Star Wars - The Clone Wars Episode Guide Years 1 - 5

“STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS”
TV SERIES EPISODE GUIDE (2008 –

2013)
SEASON ONE
MAIN PRODUCTION CREDITS

Produced by Catherine Winder
Produced by Cary Silver (Season One- Episode 12 onwards/ Season

Two)
Supervising Director: Dave Filoni
Story Editor/ Series Writer: Henry Gilroy
Staff Writers (Season Two): Katie Lucas, Brian Larsen
Created by and Executive Producer: George Lucas
STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS made by LUCASFILM ANIMATION.
Distributed worldwide by WARNER BROTHERS.
VOICE CAST
Matt Lanter as Anakin Skywalker
Ashley Eckstein as Ahsoka Tano
Catherine Taber as Padme Amidala
Anthony Daniels as See-Threepio
James Arnold Taylor as Obi-Wan Kenobi / Plo Koon
Dee Bradley Baker as the Clone Troopers
Tom Kane as Yoda / Admiral Yularen / Narrator Nika Futterman as
Asajj Ventress
Corey Burton as Count Dooku
Terrence "TC" Carson as Mace Windu
Ian Abercrombie as Chancellor Palpatine
Tim Brock as the medical droid/various voices
Matthew Wood as General Grievous / battle droids
Olivia D’Abo as Luminara Unduli
Gwendoline Yeo as Nala Se (Kaminoan)
Tom Kenny as Nute Gunray
Phil Lamarr as Kit Fisto
Jennifer Hale as Aayla Secura
James Mathis III as Captain Typho
Phil Lamarr as Bail Organa

NOTABLE GUEST VOICE ARTISTS
Ahmed Best as Jar Jar Binks (Series One-1 episode- BOMBAD JEDI)
BJ Hughes as Jar Jar Binks (Series One- 3 episodes-THE

GUNGAN GENERAL, BLUE SHADOW VIRUS and MYSTERY OF A
THOUSAND MOONS)
Ron Perlman as Gha Nachkt (Series One-2 episodes-DOWNFALL OF A

DROID and DUEL OF THE DROIDS)
George Takei as Lok Durd (Series One-1 episode-DEFENDERS OF

PEACE)
Michael York as Doctor Nuvo Vidni (Season One-2 episodes-BLUE

SHADOW VIRUS and MYSTERY OF A THOUSAND MOONS)
SEASON ONE
UNAIRED EPISODE ONE (Production Order-

Number One): CASTLE OF DECEPTION
Written by Henry Gilroy
Directed by Dave Filoni

STORY: On her first mission as Padawan to Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka
Tano accompanies him and a Clone strike force to rescue Rotta the
Huttlet, the son of Jabba the Hutt, from mysterious kidnappers based
high within an abandoned mountain monastery on the planet Teth,
and deliver him back to Tatooine. Pretty soon, after an incredible and
demanding upscale battle, Ahsoka Tano realises that things aren't
going to be quite so easy in her relationship with her new master.
UNAIRED EPISODE TWO (Production Order –

Number Three): CASTLE OF DOOM
Written by Steven Melching

(Additional dialogue by Tracy Bern, Tim Burns, Bernice Vanderlaan)
Director: George Roman Samilski
STORY: Anakin and Ahsoka battle a Vulture Droid in their escape from
the Teth monastery. Obi-Wan Kenobi arrives with reenforcements and
duels with Asajj Ventress.
UNAIRED EPISODE THREE (Production Order-

Number Four): CASTLE OF SALVATION
Written by Henry Gilroy

(Additional dialogue by Tracy Bern, Tim Burns, Steven Melching,
Bernice Vanderlaan)
Directed by Dave Filoni
STORY: Anakin and Ahsoka crash-land on Tatooine, while Padme

undertakes her own investigation into the Hutt kindnapping plot, which
leads to Ziro the Hutt.
UNAIRED EPISODE FOUR (Production Order-

Number Eighteen): THE NEW PADAWAN
Writer: Scott Murphy

Director: Brian Kalin O’Connell
STORY: Cut of Christophsis, Anakin and Obi-Wan welcome a youngling
messenger, Ahsoka Tano, who turns out to be Anakin’s new Padawan
learner.
(NOTE: THESE FOUR EPISODES WERE NEVER

AIRED-STORY ELEMENTS EXPANDED TO
BECOME "THE CLONE WARS" THEATRICAL
MOVIE, RELEASED WORLDWIDE- AUGUST
2008)
EPISODE ONE: AMBUSH

Written by Steve Melching
Directed by Dave Bullock
UK TRANSMISSION DATE: OCTOBER 25TH 2008 (SKY MOVIES

PREMIERE) AUDIENCE RATING: 290,000 (FIRST SCREENING), 64,000
(FIRST REPEAT)
US TRANSMISSION DATE: OCTOBER 3RD 2008 (CARTOON NETWORK)
MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: 8
STORY: Jedi Master Yoda is on a secret mission to forge a treaty with

the King of the strategic system of Toydaria when his ship is
ambushed by Count Dooku’s forces. Yoda and three Clone Troopers
must face off against Count Dooku’s dreaded assassin Asajj Ventress
and her massive droid force to prove that the Jedi are strong enough
to ally and protect the king and his people from the forces of the
Separatists.
NOTE: This episode was repeated as the fans favourite Season One
episode on CARTOON NETWORK U.S. on Friday February 19th 2009
AFICIONADO REVIEW: A terrific first episode start to the series-you

couldn’t have got a more different episode to what was seen in the
pilot, yet both are a strong representation of the series. The story and
characterizations for AMBUSH are strong and consistent with the live
action STAR WARS universe, and Yoda, sadly missing from much of
the main feature film, is at his best here-confident and at one in the
Force, yet also showing great humour-he’s a little Tasmanian Devil in
the action scenes. Our favourite little green hero also has a terrific,
warm-hearted scene in which he talks to the Clone Troopers in a cave,
which is a perfect STAR WARS moment. Also, top marks for the visual
beauty of the Toydarian planet locale and its people, and the nice nods
by composer Kevin Kiner to John Williams’s themes.
The series is truly up and running quality wise from the get-go.
AFICIONADO RATING: 5 out of 5
EPISODE TWO: RISING MALEVOLENCE

Writer: Steve Melching
Director: Dave Filoni.
UK TRANSMISSION DATE: OCTOBER 25TH 2008 (SKY MOVIES

(FIRST REPEAT SCREENING)
US TRANSMISSION DATE: OCTOBER 3RD 2008 (CARTOON NETWORK)
STORY: Creating panic throughout the galaxy, a devastating Separatist

mystery weapon, the Malevolence, captained by General Grievous,
terrorizes the Clone star fleet. Anakin and Ahsoka race to save the
lives of Jedi Master Plo Koon and a small party of Clone Troopers, who
have just survived their fleet’s destruction by the Malevolence’s new
Ion Cannon weapon.
AFICIONADO REVIEW: Another superlative episode-darker in nature

than AMBUSH, RISING MALEVOLENCE is an epic space adventure,
which showcases such great Prequel characters as General Grievous
(Matthew Wood returns for more Transylvanian sounding nastiness.
Yaayy!!) and Jedi master Plo Koon (nice to know what he finally
sounds like-he’s British!!) alongside his Clone troopers (their character
evolution continues to impress). There’s also some very nice nods to
the Classic Trilogy (especially STAR WARS and EMPIRE) and the space
sequence where the Battle Droids start killing the Republic survivors in
the debris field I found hauntingly disturbing, especially in it’s kids
audience slot-kudos to them for being brave like that. Again, the
production design continues to impress-the Malevolence, an unused
ship production design from EPISODE III, looks terrific on screen and I
loved the almost JAWS like theme and huge nasty sound effects that
accompanies it’s flight through the Republic vessel debris field.
A thrilling episode… and it’s only the first part!!
EPISODE THREE: SHADOW OF MALEVOLENCE
UK TRANSMISSION DATE: 1ST NOVEMBER 2008 (SKY PREMIERE)

AUDIENCE RATING: 227,000 (FIRST SCREENING), 76,000
(FOLLOWING MONDAY REPEAT SCREENING)
US TRANSMISSION DATE: 10TH OCTOBER 2008 (CARTOON NETWORK)
STORY: Having rescued Master Plo Koon and his survivors, Anakin and
Ahsoka lead a squadron of Y-wing fighters on a dangerous race against
time mission to destroy the Malevolence before it can obliterate a
medical space station carrying wounded Clone Troopers. But first, the
Jedi and his pilots must navigate through the treacherous, highly
dangerous, Balmorra Run...
NOTES: In the UK, SKY TELEVISION was supposed to have showed a

trailer for episode four after three's transmission-instead they played a
trailer for episode three!!
AFICIONADO REVIEW: The amazing quality of this series continues,

and this episode brings new levels of adventure and escapism, as well
as the terrific sight of Shadow Squadron Y-wing fighters going into
battle for the first time in the TV series. Against a backdrop of lovely
little nods to A NEW HOPE’s DEATH STAR battle we also have a
wonderfully imaginative and evocative sequence set in the Balmorra
Run region of space, where Ralph McQuarrie’s air whales finally get a
chance to live and breath in a revised appearance after their original
1977/78 conceptualization for THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. Let’s also
not forget the welcome sight of the Kaminoans in this new episode
and, on the characterization front, we get to find out a bit more about
Ahsoka-that she was taught some of her Jedi skills by Plo Koon and
that she has strong ties of loyalty to him. It’s also great to see Anakin
back in such heroic action, behind a fighter cockpit, too-a sign of more
to come!!
It all just keeps getting better.
EPISODE FOUR: DESTROY MALEVOLENCE

Written by Tim Burns
Directed by Brian Kalin O’Connell
UK ORIGINAL TRANSMISSION: 8TH NOVEMBER 2008 (SKY MOVIES

(TUESDAY REPEAT SCREENING)
US ORIGINAL US TRANSMISISON: 17TH OCTOBER 2008 (CARTOON

NETWORK)
STORY: With the Malevolence damaged and on the run, the Republic
forces led by Obi-Wan Kenobi now pursuing it are forced to stop their
attack when Padme Amidala’s ship unexpectedly enters the war zone
and is captured by General Grievous. As Padme and Threepio hide
within the enemy ships labyrinth corridors, Anakin and Obi-Wan mount
a daring rescue mission that will ultimately conclude with the
Malevolence’s fiery destruction into a nearby asteroid moon. Having
failed Count Dooku, the evil General Grievous once more makes a
cowardly escape...
AFICIONADO REVIEW: Perhaps a little bit of an anti climax after last
weeks thrilling episode, DESTROY MALEVOLENCE’s story was still a
terrific, enjoyable episode nonetheless, and miles better than pretty
much most live action things on television, so we’ll forgive them for
that. I personally would have liked to have seen the Malevolence blow
up at the hands of Anakin and Obi-Wan in a more spectacular fashion
rather than just Anakin doing a bit of creative re-wiring on it that leads
it crashing into the moon, especially after the huge, epic battle Anakin
and his forces had been through against the mighty enemy ship in the
previous episode-it’s a shame that this episode couldn’t have been re-
plotted so that this had been the middle episode of the story. It was
great to see Padme and Threepio back in the show, though, after their
limited screen time in the movie-and to see our fave Senator back in
scenes directly with Anakin where their relationship can be further
developed. Equally so, STAR WARS isn’t STAR WARS without the voice
of Anthony Daniels, and it’s always a joy to see the character and
Artoo back together, too. The physical action of this episode is well
handled-fluid, exciting and memorable (I loved the brief encounter
between Obi-Wan and Grievous (“Hello there!”), and the goodbye
gesture the former gives the latter on the moving transport car-
priceless!!)- also good is the continuity-if Anakin had encountered
Grievous before EPISODE III I would have been disappointed-
fortunately this does not happen. Despite the mild demise of the
Malevolence, that closing shot with all our heroes re-united on the
Twilight was a perfect episode end.
So, all in all, not the most satisfying ending to the story arc, but
another fun episode, and a great addition to the continuing series
roster.
AFICONADO RATING: 4 out of 5
EPISODE FIVE: ROOKIES
Written by Steve Melching
Directed by Justin Ridge
UK TRANSMISSION DATE: 15TH NOVEMBER (SKY PREMIERE)

AUDIENCE RATING: 69,000 (FIRST SCREENING)
US TRANSMISSION DATE: 24TH OCTOBER 2008 (CARTOON NETWORK)
STORY: On a lonely tracking station outpost on the Rishi moon, a

group of raw Clone Trooper recruits-nick-named “Shinys”- soon join
forces with battle stalwarts Captain Rex and Commander Cody to stop
the invasion attempts of a Separatist assault force against their home
world of Kamino.
AFICIONADO REVIEW: Another outstanding episode in the series and

one that will be sure to delight all fans of the Clone Troopers and the
501st-you can wear your uniforms with pride watching this episode!! I
have to say the character development of the soldiers is very good and
I like the individuality of the “Shiny’s” on the outpost. And Captain
Rex? Well, he’s starting to become the Clint Eastwood/ Dirty Harry of
the series with both his one-liners and his fighting abilities (loved that
“Roger, Roger!!” moment of his). Some very nice direction and
production art also make this a winner-I liked the way the Republic
outpost had the DEATH STAR-like lighting and corridors. I also greatly
enjoyed the look of the new battle droid commandos, though I wish
they had remained more silent and more deadly-it was a shame that,
with their upgrading, they couldn’t have been a little bit smarter. And
let’s hear it for that worm creature, too!! I liked that-another nod to
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, perhaps? Though the Clones steal all the
scenes they are in (another great gem was where Rex holds up the
dead droids head to the RETURN OF THE JEDI type
communicator/visual aid), there was also some nice little interplay in
the brief scenes the episode had between Obi-Wan and Anakin on their
command cruiser, and General Grievous is always great to see as a
baddie.
AFICIONADO RATING: 4.5 out of 5
EPISODE SIX: DOWNFALL OF A DROID
Writer: George Krstic
Director: Rob Coleman
MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: 2 (technically, this is the first episode

to be made for the series as the first story was expanded into THE
CLONE WARS movie)
UK TRANSMISSION DATE: 22ND NOVEMBER 2008 (SKY PREMIERE)
US TRANSMISSION DATE: 7TH NOVEMBER 2008 (CARTOON NETWORK)
STORY: With the Separatists gaining ground in their attempts to

control the Outer Rim, Anakin launches a do-or-die battle against
General Grievous’s forces in an asteroid field. The battle is fierce and
the price is high, as Anakin mourns the loss of Artoo Detoo, who has
now joined the list of those missing in action. Equally disturbed by this
news is Obi-Wan Kenobi-not by the droids loss (“They are a dime a
dozen,” he says quite coldly), but by the fact that Anakin did not have
it’s memory purged and that the information it still contains on vital
Republic attack strategies could serious compromise them. Whilst
Anakin fails to get used to his unstable new R3 unit, he and Ahsoka
hunt for the missing Artoo, where their journey takes them to an
unscrupulous junk dealer named Gha Nachkt.
NOTES: At the end of the episode, instead of showing a trailer for

DUEL OF THE DROIDS, SKY showed one for AMBUSH!!
AFICIONADO REVIEW: This story marks the welcome return to the

STAR WARS universe by Rob Coleman-I was worried that after all the
amazing work he did with the cgi characters on the Prequels that
Lucas had sidelined him for the new series-putting him in charge of the
LUCASFILM animation gig in Singapore was all very well but we
wanted to see him properly immersed in this new universe. Now he
has that chance and the results are most impressive. Great work,
Rob!! This episode is very nicely directed and has a good pace-yet
another classic story so quickly-and any episode that has Artoo-the
Saga’s true hero anyway (that’s what Lucas has always said!!)- heavily
involved in it was always going to be a fan favourite. It’s so nice to see
the differing styles and nuances being introduced to the show by the
various writers and directors, even at this early stage.
And speaking of the droid, Artoo is as resourceful and lovable as ever-

his reluctance to wear restraining bolts a highlight, as was the moment
where he jettisons the assassin droid. It’s also good to see how much
Anakin relies on him and how he misses his companion when he’s
believed dead. Though, I think there is something fishy with that new
R3 droid!!! DOWNFALL has many other terrific moments-again there
are nice references to other STAR WARS films (even the Faleen from
SHADOWS OF THE EMPIRE get a mention!!) and that opening space
battle was terrific with the AT-AT’s on the asteroids and Anakin’s brief
but exiting chase of General Grievous. And let’s not forget Ron
Perlman, who brings some nice vocal touches to the soon to re-appear
character of Gha Nachkt.
Adding flavour to the episode, Kevin Kiner’s music score is something

you’ll either love or hate-this is much closer to his experimental work
on the movie-though I don’t think Klaus Badelt will be happy with his
Dracula theme being used for the battle with General Grievous at the
beginning (perhaps it had been used as a temp track in Post-
Production and everyone liked it enough to see it used in the final
episode!!), though the Transylvanian connection between the pair is
quite obvious..
Intriguingly, on the animation front, its easy to see that this episode
was the second to be made-there are times watching it when the
animation doesn’t seem to have the same kind of depth, especially at
times on the faces of Anakin and Ahsoka, as there would be by the
time of later episodes. This quibble, however, is a very small flaw in an
otherwise excellent, highly enjoyable episode.
AFICIONADO RATING: Another terrific episode that feels like STAR

WARS. And what makes it even better as a fan and an audience
member was discovering by its end that this was only the first part of
an ongoing story. The search for Artoo continues…5 out of 5
EPISODE SEVEN: DUEL OF THE DROIDS

Writers: Kevin Campbell and Henry Gilroy
UK TRANSMISSION DATE: 29TH NOVEMBER 2008 (SKY PREMIERE)
US TRANSMISSION DATE: 14TH NOVEMBER 2008 (CARTOON

NETWORK)
STORYLINE: On the hunt for a secret Separatist listening station,

Anakin and Ahsoka discover both it and a distress signal from Artoo on
the cloud-covered moon of Ruusan. With the little droid now being
taken apart, Grievous, having killed Gha Nachkt, is determined to have
the Republic plans removed from his shell. As Anakin and Ahsoka,
alongside Rex and his Clone Troopers, mount a daring rescue/destroy
mission against the enemy Skytop Station, they are unaware that
there is a traitor in their midst. Can Artoo be saved in time, and can he
stop the dangerous Separatist collaborator before it can kill his
friends?
AFICIONADO REVIEW: Stunning, absolutely stunning. It’s so rare to

get episodic TV shows with two part episodes that stay consistently
good-most times the second part very rarely matches the quality and
excitement of the first’s set-up. There’s always some hurdles or
disappointment, but when it comes to STAR WARS, once again the rule
book doesn’t apply and is quite often chucked out the window!! DUEL
OF THE DROIDS is a smashing conclusion to DOWNFALL OF A DROID,
and Rob Coleman delivers a winning finale. The story, the pace, the
direction (again, really wonderful job, Mister Coleman!!), the
characters (some lovely bits for everyone, including Artoo in even
bolder heroics, Grievous (nastier than ever-it was a shocking sight
seeing Artoo being dis-assembled on that mortuary slab!!) and Anakin
(determined to save his friend and continuing to bend the rules to suit
him: loved that scene- “You have something that belongs to me!!”)),
and the action (and what majorly superb action it was, too!! Where to
start: the James Bond-esque sky-diving (with good old Ahsoka leading
the charge!!), Anakin fighting the droids, and the crowd pleasing
match we’ve been waiting for- Grievous versus Ahsoka (could have
been longer, and she got out of it a little too easily, perhaps, but I’m
sure they’ll be a re-match at some point!!!), and Artoo kicking that
Goldie R-3’s butt (with just a little hint of Anakin’s dark side
tendencies rubbing off on the droid as he chooses to cut the cord on
his opponent). The only downside on the action stakes was that we
didn’t get to see more of the Clone Troopers in action in the second
half, but hey, there’s still more to come on them). Hell, even the battle
droids comedy wasn’t too bad in this, either.
Only one slight disappointment and that’s the fact that Ron Perlman’s
Gha Nachkt demise was done well but both too quickly and too early in
the series run- I think there could have been some more mileage in
the character-and he would have made an interesting continuing foil to
Grievous. Ah well…
DUEL OF THE DROIDS was one of the best fusions of STAR WARS you
can get. At times, I felt I was watching real characters-a sure sign that
the behind the scenes people are giving their best and the mark of a
good animation series. This episode was an incredible success for me
and I hope everyone else watching joins me in seeing the fact that the
bar on the series is getting ever higher-I just don’t know how the live
action vision is going to top it. C’mon George, lets have a Classic
Trilogy animation series as well. Please, please, please…
AFICONADO RATING: One of the finest action-orientated episodes of

the series so far. If I could change the law of mathematical calculation
I’d give it six out of five. 5 out of 5
EPISODE EIGHT: BOMBAD JEDI
Writer: Kevin Rubio, Henry Gilroy, Steven Melching
Director: Jessie Yeh
US TRANSMISSION DATE: November 21st 2008 (CARTOON NETWORK)
UK TRANSMISSION DATE: December 6TH 2008 (SKY PREMIERE)
NOTES: IN THE US, THE FOLLOWING FRIDAY’S EPISODES CONSIST

OF THE THREE-PART MALEVOLENCE SAGA. CLOAK OF DARKNESS
AIRS THE WEEK AFTER THE THANKSGIVING BREAK ON DECEMBER 5TH
2008.
IN THE UK, SKY TV'S PROMOTIONS FOR THIS EPISODE CONSISTED

OF THE WRONG CLIPS-MAINLY FROM EPISODE ONE: AMBUSH!!!
STORYLINE: When Padme is captured whilst on a mercy mission to

Rodia, it’s up to See- Threepio and Naboo representative Jar Jar Binks
to rescue her. A problem shared is a problem halved they used to say-
not when Jar Jar is involved, and certainly not when he’s accidentally
mistaken for being a Jedi Knight!!
AFICIONADO REVIEW: After the excitement and visual grandness of

the Malevolence sagas and the two part rescue of Artoo, BOMBAD JEDI
is an eminently enjoyable and highly diverting episode acting almost
as a nice mid point breath of fresh air before the series starts to
become very dark and serious in its second half. To get away from
Anakin and Ahsoka for an episode or two and find out more about
what’s happening to other Outer Rim worlds during the war.
Love him or loathe him, Jar Jar Binks returns to the STAR WARS saga-
pretty much ignored from EPISODE III’s darker tone, and his ultimate
fate in the saga still not really pinned down, it’s nice to have Jar Jar
back for more unintentional bravery and fool hardiness. This time,
however, his comic escapades work fare better in the animated
medium and he soon re-establishes himself as a firm favourite for the
kiddies and selected adults (I personally have never had a major
problem with the character-perhaps because he always reminded me
of my much missed dog and the way she sometimes acted). Not every
Adult may enjoy seeing him as much but Ahmed Best’s vocal return,
including his two excellent contributions to ROBOT CHICKEN recently,
is most welcome in my book. The story is nicely paced and structured,
and the pairing of Threepio with the gangly Gungan is well handled.
It’s a shame we never saw them team up like that in the live action
sense (though that is something that I doubt Anthony Daniels would
have pushed for!!). Even with the comedy there's still the significant
action adventure elements we all love. And then of course, there’s
Padme-despite Jar Jar being the star, she is once again a great stand
out character in the series and Catherine Taber continues to do a
brilliant job of bringing the character to life and matching the
performance of Natalie Portman. Visually, it’s also great to see the
character back to being at her best-whether it’s in the role of
diplomatic envoy or as battle droid blasting super babe!!!
Kevin (TROOPS) Rubio’s script is very playful-a wording I think being

apt for the whole story in general. Light and playful. There’s also some
nice dialogue (loved the Padme/ Threepio exchange when the former
asks what happened to their ship!!). Some nice visual comedy
moments also make this episode a confident winner (I loved Jar Jar
being mistaken for the Jedi, his destroying Padme’s ship and his riding
of the Rodian sea creature- Fantastic seeing McQuarrie’s unused
EMPIRE Dagobah slug being adapted for Rodia!!).
One of the key pleasures of this new series (both this and hopefully
the live action series to come) is developing the backstory and the
supporting characters and alien worlds/civilizations we’ve always
wanted to discover more about. This time, it’s the turn of the Rodians
as we find out a little bit more about the amphibians and observations
as to why they are what they are-they have been kind of treated as an
inferior member of the Republic and you can see how someone like
Greedo, as a member of that race, even though he was raised on
Tatooine, may have had a chip on his shoulder in his later years. The
Rodian civilization is also rendered beautifully, too-another of those “I
wonder what their world looks like?” queries from the fans over the
years once more skillfully answered by the LUCASFILM art teams.
The grand heroics of the story’s finale ends with a nice tie into the
next episode- CLOAK OF DARKNESS. Finally, Nute Gunray, introduced
for the first time in the series, has been captured. But for how long?
AFICIONADO RATING: A welcome little treat that ticks all the right
boxes for family entertainment in the STAR WARS saga-a fun, oddball
episode for the oddball quirky character of Jar Jar. Not an instant
classic, perhaps, but certainly far better than anyone ever thought it
would be. In time, I think BOMBAD JEDI’s popularity as a story will
continue to grow. It may not totally heal the wounds die-hard fans feel
they have suffered with his introduction in the Prequel Trilogy but it
may help in the healing process if the character appears in more
episodes as good as this one. As for me, well, it’s nice to have you
back Jar Jar!! 4 out of 5
EPISODE NINE: CLOAK OF DARKNESS
Writer: Paul Dini
Director: Dave Filoni
FIRST US TRANSMISSION: 5th DECEMBER 2008 (CARTOON NETWORK)
FIRST UK TRANSMISSION: 13TH DECEMBER 2008 (SKY PREMIERE)
STORY: As Jedi Master Luminara Unduil and Padawan Ahsoka Tano

begin the journey of escorting the captured Nute Gunray back to the
Republic for war crimes trial, Count Dooku sends Asajj Ventress out to
take back the Neimoidian-a mission she has to succeed in if she is to
survive. As her vicious boarding action begins, and the Jedi and Clone
Commander Greel give their all to repel the assassin, are there
conspirators aboard the Republic ship willing to aid the Sith cause?
AFICONADO REVIEW: Having been a great fan of his work in the
animation medium and especially for his amazing work on the first
season of Warner Brothers 1990’s version of BATMAN: THE ANIMATED
SERIES, my discovering that Paul Dini (who was also a consultant on
LOST ‘s first two seasons by the way, too!!) was writing this episode
was a thrill to read on STARWARS.COM. CLOAK OF DARKNESS, with its
obvious Sith connotations and more adult theme was perfect material
for Dini to bring to life. Though the episode’s plot may have been a
little thinner than I thought it would be, Dini brought lots of good
dialogue to the main characters (especially Nute Gunray’s constant
worming about!!) and succeeded admirably in the plotting of the
various adventure beats throughout the installment-let’s hope he has
the chance to flex his skills on a two part episode in the near future.
Once again, Dave Filoni is back in the director’s chair-HOORAY!!-
complimenting Dini’s adept plotting and bringing the same kind of
strength to this episode that he did for RISING MALEVOLENCE.
Luminara Unduli finally gets some well deserved attention in the series
after so little screen time in the films, and the transformation of
actress Mary Oyaya’s face to the animation medium is superb, with
English voice artist Olivia D’Abo (sister of Bond girl Maryam) doing a
very good job in bringing the character to life. On the opposite side of
the Force, this episode also showcases the villainous Ventress in all her
cunning and agile glory, with her match against Unduli and Ahsoka,
against a fiery engine core backdrop (not too dis-similar to the hells of
Mustafar in EPISODE III) well worth the price of admission. On the
support side, all those BUFFY/STAR WARS fans must have been in
pure heaven when they heard that James (SPIKE) Marsters would be
providing the silky, confident voice of the loyal (?) Captain Argyus.
Marsters does a very good job here, making us think, at least for a
brief period, that we can trust him. The Republic Commandoes are
nicely presented and it’s good to see them in action after their very
brief appearance as background in Palpatine’s office for the first
CLONE WARS movie. And just when will evil co-conspirators learn not
to turn their backs on the Sith!!
Other nice little moments include the return of Commander Gree, the
look of the Republic Cruisers detention block (a lovely nod to the
DEATH STAR designs from STAR WARS), and a fully functioning
Treadmill droid, thrown in too!!
AFICIONADO RATING: It may have been a little lightweight as a story,

but, all in all, it was yet another great, action packed installment. 4
out of 5.
EPISODE TEN: LAIR OF GRIEVOUS

Writer: Henry Gilroy
Director: Atsushi Takeuchi
FIRST US TRANSMISSION: 12TH DECEMBER 2008 (CARTOON

NETWORK) This is the last episode before the Xmas break.
FIRST UK TRANSMISSION: 20TH DECEMBER 2008 (SKY PREMIERE) This

is the last episode before the Xmas break.
NOTE: The end titles of this episode have a different musical

arrangement of Kevin Kiner's MAIN THEME interpretation.
STORY: Re-united with his ex-Padawan, the Mon Calamarian Nahdar

Vebb, Jedi Master Kit Fisto and a Republic force arrive on the third
moon of the Vassek system, having believed they’ve found a safe
house for the recently escaped Nute Gunray. Penetrating their
locations fog shrouded aura, the group soon find themselves caught in
a trap orchestrated by Count Dooku to test the Separatist droid leader
General Grievous’s dedication and abilities after his recent failures
against the Jedi. The previously undiscovered lair of Grievous holds
many mysteries, linked with deadly traps and dangers for our heroes
to face-eventually leading their dwindling numbers to the final deadly
encounter with the dreaded Jedi killer himself. Hungry for retribution
for the death of his loyal soldiers, can the willful and determined
Nahdar resist the urge to fight Grievous on his own?
AFICIONADO REVIEW: “It’s ooky and it’s spooky. The house is a

museum when people come to see ‘em. The lair of Gri-ev-ous. Click
click!!” STAR WARS enters the realms of gothic adventure with this
highly anticipated episode, of which a large chunk was shown
previously to excited fans at CELEBRATION JAPAN, who would have
seen it at the best quality you could get-on a huge screen and with
amazing sound!!
Acclaimed director Atsushi Takeuchi brings a terrific, mysterious style
to the episode as Dracula…sorry Grievous’s castle appears out of the
mist full of doomladen dread and terror. There’s also a touch of the
FRANKENSTEIN monster about Grievous himself as we see all the
ghoulish droid exo battle suit armour skeletons and the moment where
he’s under the knife on the operating table. Add a bit of ALIEN’ish
corridor-ish atmosphere thrown in for good measure amidst plenty of
other nice little surprises in store continuity and excitement-wise, of
which, despite the fact that the episode can’t really go too far story-
wise (we know that Fisto will escape death until EPISODE III), Henry
Gilroy must have really enjoyed bringing such a differing style story
together- his script showcases the General with some excellent
dialogue (Matthew Wood must be relishing his Transylvanian accent!),
whilst keeping the action and scares effectively plotted. Gilroy must be
on Cloud Nine in what is obviously one of the best creative jobs you
could ever have on this planet!!
Like the whole episode, Grievous’s castle was well realized- a real
chamber of horrors with a gothic style that would make H.P. Lovecraft
smile with glee. There was also the excellent aforementioned exo-
skeleton lair, the historical statues of the pre-cyborg Grievous and his
beloved pet Gor-who looked like something that would have
challenged WETA digital from their LORD OF THE RINGS creations.
Phil Lamarr brings great character and warmth to fan favourite Kit
Fisto-the slight Jamaican edge to the voice is fun and feels right and
its also nice to find out more about the character and his history-that
he has a loyal droid and that he had an ex- Padawan-the ultimately
tragic Mon Calamarian, Nahder Vebb, who sadly turns out to be too in-
experienced and shows the audience that not all the Jedi will
ultimately succeed in their duties within the order. His death at the
hands of Grievous, in another disturbing underhanded way that only
the Droid General could come up with, is well played, as is the
enemy’s final fog shrouded duel with his Magnaguards against Fisto,
all excellently choreographed, with neat slick moves and angles that
only an expert director like Atsushi could have brought to it-loved that
sequence early on where Kit and the gang decapitate Grievous who
escapes in a creepy crawly manner not unlike the duel with Kenobi in
EPISODE III.
The loyal and equally creepy droid doctor for Grievous is also worthy of
note-another excellent supporting addition to THE CLONE WARS
animated universe, coming across as a hybrid of servant Renfield from
DRACULA touched with a nastier Niles Crane from FRASIER!!
With LAIR OF GRIEVOUS, it’s nice to have these darker edged stories
from time to time, and has once more set a high bench-mark for the
series writers and directors.
AFICIONADO RATING: A scary episode best watched in the dark with

the curtains drawn. A true show piece for THE CLONE WARS series.
Well done. 5 out of 5.
EPISODE ELEVEN: DOOKU CAPTURED
Writer: Julie Siege (from a story by George Lucas)
Director: Jesse Yeh
FIRST US TRANSMISSION (CARTOON NETWORK) JANUARY 2ND 2009
FIRST UK TRANSMISSION (SKY PREMIERE) JANUARY 3RD 2009
STORY: A cunning plan hatched by Obi-Wan and Anakin to finally

capture the elusive Count Dooku misfires badly when the Sith Lord is
instead found and held for ransom by a motley band of Weequay
pirates on the planet Florrum. As the Galactic Republic prepares to pay
the hefty ransom cost for Dooku in one million quantities of spice, an
un-armed Anakin and Obi-Wan, having escaped one of the Count’s
earlier traps on the rock world of Vanqor, arrive on Florrum to meet
Pirate Chief Hondo Ohnaka and confirm that their enemy has indeed
been apprehended. But will the prisoner’s delivery to the Republic go
according to plan?
AFICIONADO REVIEW: A light hearted STAR WARS meets PIRATES OF

THE CARIBBEAN type start to this two part story, with the always
popular race of almost mummified looking Weequay creatures being
heavily showcased as running a smuggling band that have
apprehended Dooku: these guys are clearly not a race you want to
mess with, but there’s also more of an opportunity in showing some of
the same clever/comedy traits that embellished Captain Jack
Sparrow’s men in that other highly popular, more down to Earth
trilogy. It’s a nicely rendered episode and has, whether you like it or
not (I do!!!), George Lucas’s touch all over it, even down to some of
the 1950’s B-movie elements that Lucas likes so much when he
conceived this episode’s original storyline-the Weequay spaceship
looks like it had come off the skies of the Ray Harryhausen movie
EARTH VERSUS THE FLYING SAUCERS. There’s also a nice effort made
in this first part in satisfactorily bringing pretty much all of the main
characters of the show into the adventure. And some other nice
bridging Trilogies moments, too, like the re-appearances of several
Cantina aliens from STAR WARS, the Jawa’s return, and, one of the
episode’s big highlights for me, as we finally discover, after nearly
thirty years, just what a Gundark looks like!! And it ain’t pretty!!
Added to all that, there’s more EPISODE II links, including Anakin
losing his saber yet again and Dooku being confined in a manner
similar to what he previously did to Obi-Wan on Geonosis. Oh, and
let’s not forget the Classic Trilogy similarities of Anakin chasing Dooku
through vent tunnels (like the Bespin one the injured Luke descended
in Bespin, only he didn’t have Dooku firing electrical bolts in front of
him!!) And then there’s that cheeky Kowakian Monkey Lizard thrown in
for good measure!!! Just as treacherous and conniving as a certain
Salacious B. Crumb to follow him!!
As for the star of the episode himself, Corey Burton gives, as ever, an
excellent vocal performance as Dooku, a character who successfully
eludes the Jedi and thwarts their plans but soon finds himself in an
unexpected situation from a new enemy. Always on the lookout for an
opportunity to strike back against his Jedi/Republic enemies, the
everadaptable Dooku always seems to find a way to turn the tide and
bounce back. Though, as part two’s US trailer shows, bitter enemies
may have to work together if they are to survive…
On the few negatives for this episode, some bits of the dialogue/
banter between Anakin and Obi-Wan feel a little bit forced, but in
action they are always great together, and I loved the episode’s final
scene where they shared some comedy camaraderie over their
switching of their poisoned drinks.
AFICIONADO RATING: After the gloom and danger of LAIR OF

GRIEVOUS, this is a more fun and light hearted adventure romp than
we’ve seen before, even compared to this season’s earlier episodes.
Not the greatest story, I’m sure you’ll agree, but playful in heart, and
still terrific family entertainment, with what looks like a terrific part
two yet to come. 4 out of 5
EPISODE TWELVE: THE GUNGAN GENERAL

Writer: Julie Siege
Director: Justin Ridge
FIRST US TRANSMISSION: (CARTOON NETWORK) 9TH JANUARY 2009
FIRST UK TRANSMISSION: (SKY PREMIERE) 10TH JANUARY 2009
NOTE: Catherine Taber is credited as voicing Padme for this episode,

yet the character only appears fleetingly in the background, and
without dialogue, in one scene. Perhaps her moments were cut from
the episode for timing reasons?
STORY: As the Republic representatives arrive on Florrum they are

ambushed by the men of Weequay Pirate lieutenant Turk-who is
determined to have the spice for himself and usurp his boss.
Meanwhile, Anakin and Obi-Wan have been imprisoned by Hondo
Ohnaka, and, their fates bound with Count Dooku, they plan an
escape. Can the crash-landed Jar Jar Binks and his surviving Clone
Commando escorts arrive in time to help?
AFICIONADO REVIEW: After the promising first episode, THE GUNGAN

GENERAL sadly doesn’t quite finish the story in a manner that I found
totally satisfying. For a start, I was amazed that the combined power
of three of the most accomplished Jedi couldn’t get out of their meager
confinement successfully (unless Anakin and Obi-Wan were
deliberately holding back and wanted to keep an eye on Dooku (if that
was the case, then somewhere along the line it should have been
explained), but then, with someone so powerful as Dooku, I can’t
believe he just couldn’t have escaped on his own from the outset
anyway!! These Weequay’s would not have been a test of his
mettle!!). Despite better dialogue for the main characters, it looked
abundantly clear to me that plot and character logic seemed to go out
the window in this episode- for starters, at the end of DOOKU
CAPTURED Obi-Wan and Anakin had playfully avoided being drugged
by the pirates yet at the start of this episode they are suddenly
imprisoned because they had still drunk drugged booze??!! Someone
please explain how that happened??- just to make way for some crowd
pleasing fun moments and wouldn’t it be great if we did this scenarios
(I assume that the bonding of the two Jedi and Sith was a
homage/nod to the Tony Curtis/ Sidney Poitier movie classic THE
DEFIANT ONES). Thankfully, the secondary plot with the ransom
delivery proves to be the best part of the episode overall, with the
nasty Weequay, Turk (well voiced by British actor Greg Ellis (or
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN fame, and soon to be seen in the new
STAR TREK movie)), deciding, in best pirate tradition, to double cross
his boss, resulting in the crash-landed Clone Troopers and Jar Jar
Binks having to think (well, with Jar Jar, stumble!!!) on their feet in
order to survive and rescue their friends, leading to some comedy
moments with the latter that I thought were genuinely quite fun (I
liked the unintentional tank battle sequence very much, as well as the
Gungan riding the Skalder creatures after the spice stealing Pirates.
Oh, and let’s not forget that cool Pirate speeder bike sequence,
either!!)). Sadly, another blow for the episode, as Ahmed Best, for
unknown reasons (possibly scheduling?), wasn’t available to do Jar
Jar’s voice this time. His vocal talents were truly missed-it just wasn’t
the same without him as the gangly Gungan.
As the episode ended, it was logical for the writer to adhere to the Jedi
code that they would have no malice/revenge towards the Weequay
pirates. But there is a flaw to this. Okay, so Turk was responsible for a
lot of the bad stuff in this episode, but how would the Jedi know that?
And does the tragic loss/murder of Senator Kharrus mean nothing to
our heroes? (Poor old Kharrus!! Ah well…at least he was buried with
Indiana Jones’s STAFF OF RA!!). Surely, Hondo and his men should
have paid some price for their actions? I can only assume that this
story’s plot holes may be due to sequence/dialogue omissions rather
than anything ill conceived. And perhaps those quirky and devious
Weequay Pirates will return later in the series?
AFICIONADO RATING: With a story finale that seemed to defy logic in

places, I can’t say THE GUNGAN GENERAL is one of my favourite
episodes so far this season, but, looked at purely as a piece of family
entertainment rather than official STAR WARS cannon, it was fun and
ended in an acceptable, rather than totally satisfactory, way. All in all,
just a respectable 3 out of 5.
EPISODE THIRTEEN: JEDI CRASH
Writer: Katie Lucas

FIRST US TRANSMISSION (CARTOON NETWORK): 16TH JANUARY 2009
FIRST UK TRANSMISSION (SKY PREMIERE): 17TH JANUARY 2009
STORY: When Aayla Secura’s squadron of Republic ships come under

heavy Separatist attack in the ionosphere of one of the planets in the
Quell system, Anakin and Ahsoka lead a rescue mission that ultimately
goes badly wrong, resulting in Anakin being gravely injured and their
damaged escape cruiser making an accidental hyperspace jump that
forces them to crash land on the planet Maridun. Whilst Captain Rex
tends to the injured Jedi General, Padawan Ahsoka and Secura, after
encountering some dangerous indigenous life forms called Mastif
Phalons, encounter the planet’s local populace, a pacifist alien society
of lemur-like creatures called Lurmen, whom they urgently request
help from in the form of their local medicine man. But can they reach
Anakin in time?
AFICIONADO REVIEW: If this is the first of many examples to come, I

hope that the talent for making STAR WARS in the Lucas family carries
on as brilliantly as this. Second daughter Katie Lucas proves that you
don’t have to be nepotistic to get a job at LUCASFILM. From just this
one example, with more to come in the future, she is showing the
skills of a very talented upcoming young writer. JEDI CRASH, her first
episode as a series in-house writer, is a real breakthrough-packed with
action and excitement and some serious dramatic moments, especially
in its no-holds barred opening (the whole idea of the ship battle in the
ionosphere of a planet was an inspired one by both Lucas and the
production team, as was the idea of the flying super battle droids
causing absolute carnage to the Republic forces. You may not have
time to draw your breath after those first seven minutes!!). Things get
a little bit calmer after the later crash landing, but the excellent quality
of the story continues to unfold well with some neat, resonant
character moments and the introduction of a new alien race. One of
the last episodes of this first season to be made, this is top notch
STAR WARS and is up there with the best or ‘em, with lots of variety
and ingenious pieces of imagination (I loved the sequence where
Anakin Force threw his friends into the cruiser’s airlock but wasn’t able
to stop himself fro getting injured, the attack of the Mastif creatures
on the heroes camp, and even the little quirks like Anakin’s heavy
Vader breathing in sickbay and the fun way the Lurmen doctor rolled
into a shape almost like a droideka so that he could move quickly).
The early sequence of the hyperdrive system, it’s workings and what it
can and can’t do’s previously established in previous films and the
Expanded Universe, may now have been shaken up a little bit by this
adventure’s events, but who cares-this is close to live action STAR
WARS in my book, which means, this time, that the rulebook can be
thrown out for a good reason and story-there aren’t many episodes
that I would consider total cannon-JEDI CRASH, though, is a different
kettle of fish which I’m prepared to accept.
Finally, after years of waiting and almost there’s, the Lemur race of
creatures make it to reality in a STAR WARS adventure. They were
much smaller than I thought they would be and they were hampered
by their little Leprechaun Irish voices, which I found a tad irritating,
but, on the whole, their society was very well realized and believable
and I look forward to seeing more of them in the next part. With some
intriguing mannerisms and their distinctly pacifist upbringing, the two
characters of the medicine man and their leader-the latter’s voice
provided by the popular TV and animated series veteran George Coe-
are their main representatives this time out. Also on the voice side,
like Plo Koon before her, we finally discover what Aayla Secura sounds
like-and not only is she still a babe to many of hot blooded guys out
there (I’m still sticking with EP IV Leia, though!!)- even in this
animated format- but she’s French as well!! What a combination!!
Another interesting new character, only on the villain’s side this time,
is the droid tactical leader-not quite as I imagined he’d look but, with
this being one of the last of the first season episodes to be produced,
I’ll get used to him-I’m assuming he’ll probably be a regular fixture in
Series Two alongside General Grievous and Dooku.
After his super start on the Artoo kidnap duology episodes, Rob
Coleman really comes into his own even more this time, using the
animators to bring to life one of the most spectacular battles ever seen
in STAR WARS (surely this will make it into one of STAR WARS fans
best ever type lists!!) through to the nicely played performances he
brings from the voice acting between Ahsola (Ashley Eckstein) and
Aayla Secura (Jennifer Hale), as well as superbly realizing Ralph
McQuarrie’s original 1983 concept art for JEDI, for the planet
Spicemon, as the new Lurman planet of Maridun. Somebody give this
ultra-talented guy an animated feature film to do, preferably a STAR
WARS one please!!!
AFICIONADO RATING: Certainly not an unlucky number thirteen, I was

absolutely gob smacked by the feature quality opening seven minutes
of this episode. And the rest of the story...well that was first class too!!
I had some doubts about Katie Lucas taking the reins of an episode
but I have been more than proved wrong with JEDI CRASH. This is a
fresh, enthusiastic and nicely conceived piece of work. Well done. A
superb 5 out of 5
EPISODE FOURTEEN: DEFENDERS OF PEACE

Writer: Bill Cantlebury
Director: Steward Lee
FIRST US TRANSMISSION (CARTOON NETWORK): 23/1/2009
FIRST UK TRANSMISSION (SKY PREMIERE): 24/1/2009
STORY: Still stranded on Maridun, the three Jedi and their two Clone
Trooper commanders try to reason with the Lurman when a Separatist
force headed by the greedy General Lok Durd arrives on the planet to
test a dangerous new weapon that destroys natural life yet leaves
technology intact. As the injuries recovering Anakin leads his comrades
into battle against the enemy, will the Lurman be persuaded to help
them, or will their pacifism let their world become another casualty of
war?
AFICIONADO REVIEW: Shades of the western genre, one of the STAR

WARS saga’s greatest modern influences, in this episode as the Jedi
fight to defend the Lurman’s rights and beliefs, at the possible cost of
their own lives, in a MAGNIFICENT SEVEN’ish showdown with the
Separatists. Though the idea of the Separatist weapon is nothing new
in science fiction circles, THE CLONE WARS newcomer Bill Cantlebury’s
script is tight, well structured and has some nice moments (dig that
Probe Droid, too!!), though perhaps, without the danger of trying to be
too preachy (which, quite rightly, Winder, Filoni and their team were
obviously trying to avoid), there could have been a little bit more
script development into the Lurman’s pacifism and about their
thoughts and relationship to the Jedi, as well as the latter’s own beliefs
whilst acting as peacekeepers in the war-perhaps we’ll see more of
that as it escalates into a probably harder-edged Season Two. Again,
like Cantlebury’s writing, the directing, again from another newcomer,
Steward Lee, was perfectly fine-perhaps more subtle and in contrast to
the out and out visual extravaganza we had from Rob Coleman the
previous week- but this was an interesting, equally well made counter
balance to JEDI CRASH, and expanded the story well into a more than
satisfactory tale. The final battle was also of note, but why didn’t the
Jedi and the Lurman villagers call on help from the previously seen
Mastif’s?
Legendary STAR TREK actor, all round nice guy and animation veteran
(remember the seventies SPACE SENTINELS, anyone?) George Takei
brings his marvelously distinctive voice to the repulsive character of
Lok Durd, a nonchalant and overbearingly arrogant Separatist who
doesn’t care what is destroyed so long as he can get his promotion. As
well as this new character, the episode also lets us see a lot more of
the Jedi in action, in some very well choreographed and directed
moments, with each showing some distinctive, nifty moves (loved
Aayla Secura at work and the bit where Ahsoka was running around
the captured droids and slicing their heads off. That girl has a wicked
streak!!), and, of course, anything in which we see Anakin at his heroic
prime is always great to see-I’d love to now watch a counterpoint
animated series on the Classic Trilogy where we see Darth Vader doing
the same but for the baddies!!
AFICIONADO RATING: A quieter in tone yet very solid second part to

the previous episode. Nicely made, with some lovely direction. 4 OUT
OF 5.
EPISODE FIFTEEN: TRESPASS

MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: 25 (this is a second season episode

production which got put into the season one 22 episode slot instead-it
seems this episode may have replaced Rob Coleman’s CARGO OF
DOOM, which looks to have been switched over into season two?)
FIRST US TRANSMISSION (CARTOON NETWORK) 30/1/2009
FIRST UK TRANSMISSION (SKY PREMIERE) 31/1/2009
STORY: Having suddenly lost contact with their Clone Trooper outpost
on the ice planet of Orto Plutonia, Anakin and Obi-Wan are soon
caught in a dispute escalating into war between the planet’s
indigenous life-forms, the bear-like Talz, and the Republic member
world of Pantora, whose leader, Chairman Chi Cho, has claimed the
world as part of their empire.
NOTE: British BABYLON 5 actor Robin Atkin Downes, now a regular

animation voice artist, contributes to this episode as a Pantoran
officer.
AFICIONADO REVIEW: What we’ve all been waiting for: another Ice
Planet, and one that certainly looks as beautiful but also as
inhospitable and dangerous as Hoth from THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK.
Steve Melching’s story and script are more than fine for this episode,
as are the voice cast (including Aayla Secura actress Jennifer Earle
coming back to voice another character, this time the endearing
Padme wannabe Riyo Chuchi), but really it’s the superb visuals of this
episode that make it such a stand out. Everything you wanted to see
in a STAR WARS ice planet is brought to life magnificently, from the
adaptation of Ralph McQuarrie and Joe Johnston’s 1979 concept art of
the Imperial Snowtroopers for the Clones, to the hardware that travels
across the planets surface (loved those new speeder bikes!!!), to the
first proper use of the Talz creatures (nice to see a Classic Trilogy
creature returning and used in a much better way than simply looking
puzzled in the Mos Eisley Cantina!!). I just loved the whole way the
episode looked (oh, if only a modern live action film could have looked
this good!!)- kudos for the interior Republic Clone Outpost, which had
a lighting style and cinematography that echoed the Rebel’s base from
EMPIRE-with a main command deck that looked like a larger version of
the unused interior created by McQuarrie’s for that film’s Ion Cannon
Control Room. The episode’s atmospheric opening also had mild
echoes of THE THING, with the discovery of both Separatists and
Republic forces taken out by a mysterious foe, which I thoroughly
enjoyed. Even the pockets of breath coming out of the characters
mouths were a realistic achievement worth noting!! Though Anakin
and Obi-Wan have very little to do in the story apart from act as
impartial observers to the developing conflict, it is Rex and the
Snowtroopers that have the chance to shine once more, especially in
the action stakes when fighting against the Talz. And let’s not forget
the always-welcome appearance of Artoo and Threepio, too, who can
finally walk about on the surface of an ice planet after practical
considerations made their chance of appearing on location in Norway
for 1979’s filming of EMPIRE unfeasible-not so in the animation
medium!!
AFICIONADO RATING: Having been plucked out from season two and
shown earlier than planed, TRESPASS, with its lovely nods to THE
EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, is an intriguing taster of what’s to come
further down the line for the series. This felt like a more mature
episode, with none of the kiddie friendly material that older STAR
WARS fans may dislike, and the animation and cinematography firmly
show the Lucas team’s confident style. 5 out of 5
EPISODE SIXTEEN: THE HIDDEN ENEMY

Writer: Drew Z. Greenberg
MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: 2: 01 (THIS IS THE FIRST EPISODE

TO BE MADE FOR SERIES TWO, YET IT HAS BEEN PLACED INTO THE
SERIES ONE RUNNING ORDER)
STORY: When a special offensive mission by Anakin and Obi-Wan to

help the crystalline planet of Christophsis backfires, the Clone Troopers
discover they have a traitor in their ranks. As the Separatist Droid
invasion army prepares to move into the planet’s capital city, and the
distracted Jedi face off once more against Asajj Ventress, can Cody
and Rex discover and apprehend the devil in their midst before he can
do any more damage?
AFICIONADO REVIEW: What happens when a Clone Trooper starts to

think dangerously beyond his servitude conditioning? When he starts
to become more fallible and corruptible than his friends and colleagues
around him? What happens when a soldier like that doesn’t want to
fight for the Republic cause? Those are the intriguing questions posed
within the premise of yet another well written and thought-provoking
episode of this series (actually an episode from it’s seemingly more
sophisticated second season no less!!). It’s a situation that becomes
real and almost unthinkable for both the Jedi and the Clone Troopers-a
turncoat in their midst. This leads to some very interesting moments
and dialogue, especially for our resident and likeable “hero” soldiers,
Rex and Cody (nice to see them back together in action again), as
they eventually find and attempt to stop their hidden enemy.
Another plus for the series; the chance to go back and tell Prequel
stories to the animated Prequel movie!! Christophsis was an intriguing
world and it was nice that the animators were able to take us back
there (shame, though, that we couldn’t have seen a little more of their
race-their costumes at the beginning reminded me of something that
humanoid aliens from the sixties STAR TREK series would wear-very
retro-I liked it!!). With the upcoming second season (hard to believe
we’re almost at the end of the first already!!) apparently exploring
other time frames within the Prequel saga, I can’t wait to see how
things develop...
Meanwhile, Anakin and Obi-Wan come to blows once more with Asajj
Ventress in her time delaying tactic (loved that smoochy talk between
her and Obi-Wan!!) that perfectly leads into the movie and equally
provides some spectacular lightsaber action. The excellent audio and
visual nods continue, with Kevin Kiner returning to some of his
previously established movie themes, and there’s an equally nice nod
to some of John Williams music from EPISODE II nicely thrown in as
well. The tactical droid seen in JEDI CRASH loses his head in a terrific
scene with one of the Clone Troopers, and the mysterious tentacle
spaceship that snuck in to Tatooine and captured Rotta the Huttlet is
also shown again for the first time (if you see what I mean!!!).
AFICIONADO RATING: Exciting stuff, and I get the feeling that season
two, from this example so far, is only the start of a darker shift for the
series…. 5 out of 5
EPISODE SEVENTEEN: BLUE SHADOW VIRUS
Writer: Craig Titley
Director: Giancarlo Volpe
MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: 26 (we assume another Season Two

episode)

STORY: Padme, Threepio and Jar Jar return to Naboo and discover
that their world has once more been infiltrated by enemy forces.
Discovering a biological weapons base hidden deep underground in
one of the swamp regions, the threesome team up with the newly
arrived Jedi-Anakin, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka-to try and stop the evil
machinations of Doctor Nuvo Vindi before he can use the previously
destroyed, but now re-developed, Blue Shadow Virus to kill countless
lives on both Naboo and other Republic worlds.
NOTE: IN THE US, THIS EPISODE AND “MYSTERY OF A THOUSAND

MOONS” WERE SHOWN TOGETHER ON CARTOON NETWORK,
SPECIFICALLY LINKED TO A SPECIAL NIGHT OF PREMIERE
PROGRAMMING ON THAT CHANNEL. IN THE UK, SKY SHOWED “BLUE
SHADOW VIRUS” ON ITS OWN THE NEXT DAY, WITH “MYSTERY” THE
FOLLOWING WEEK.
AFICIONADO REVIEW: Again, a standard action/adventure scenario- a

race against time to stop a virus being unleashed- but one that works
well within the STAR WARS universe, in another slick and nicely
plotted episode and a nice directorial pitch from CLONE WARS
newcomer, Giancarlo Volpe. Adding to it all is some nicely framed art
direction with a welcome return to Naboo, which is well represented
with some beautiful continuity (great to see some of the familiar
EPISODE ONE backgrounds, like the Naboo fighter hangar and the
grass plains-keeping the Doug Chiang look nicely) and a very pleasing
colour use (Padme wears gowns/outfits that would make Iain McCaig
and Trisha Biggar proud!!). The later action scenes in the underground
Virus bunker also proved exciting (loved the corridor weaving Battle
Droids)-liked the EMPIRE Bespin tunnel homage, too, and it was nice
to see the return of familiar characters like Captain Typho (what about
Panaka!!) and Threepio (as well as new ones like Queen Neevutnee).
Sadly, Jar Jar’s voice is starting to Jar Jar, and still isn’t provided by
Ahmed Best-he really is the only one who can voice him and is much
missed. I did like the Gungan farmer, Peppi Bow, though, who had a
nice little scene saving the day by episode’s end. And SKYWALKER
RANCH continues to have it in for those poor Shak beasts-ILM were
blowing them up and dropping them onto Separatist tanks in scenes
and outtakes for EPISODE TWO, and now the poor mites are being
poisoned!!!
Fresh from his AUSTIN POWERS duties, though no stranger to

animated series (like WB’s BATMAN), Michael York caps it all off, just
about keeping within the comedy/drama parameters with a very OTT
performance as the evil doctor Nuvo Vindi, a cross between a clichéd
Nazi/B-movie mad scientist and the CARRY ON film’s Kenneth
Williams.
AFICIONADO RATING: Another fun episode-it’s always nice to be back

on Naboo. 4 out of 5
EPISODE EIGHTEEN: MYSTERY OF A THOUSAND

MOONS
Writer: Brian Larsen
Supervising Writer: Drew Z. Greenberg
Director: Jesse Yeh
MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: SEASON 2, EPISODE 2
FIRST U.S. TRANSMISSION (CARTOON NETWORK): 13/2/2009
FIRST U.K. TRANSMISSION (SKY PREMIERE): 21/2/2009
STORY: Picking up mere moments from the previous episode, the Blue
Shadow Virus facility, believed contained, has an unexpected breakout
of the disease when a Separatist servant droid detonates a missing
canister. Separated from their infected friends below, Anakin and Obi-
Wan have a mere 48 hours to mount a desperate mission to the far
distant world of Iego in search of a mysterious plant that will act as an
antidote. Once there, and with the help of a robot repair kid by the
name of Jaybo Hood, the duo go trough many obstacles against the
planets natural animal/plant life before recovering the rare Reeksa
root. Can Anakin and Obi-Wan reach the fallen Padme and Ahsoka in
time? And what about the dreaded spirit of Drol that lies in wait on the
edge of the Iego system. Will it let them pass through, or will the
Twilight become a part of the destroyed graveyard of ships already
littering it’s system?
AFICIONADO REVIEW: In this tenth anniversary of THE PHANTOM

MENACE, it’s nice to have a CLONE WARS episode that pays some
lovely little visual tributes to it. Now we finally know what Anakin
meant when he was likening Padme to an Angel all those years
before… Specially designed by Lucas, the Angel of Iego that we see is
both beautiful and enchanting. Sadly, her appearance was all too brief-
let’s hope her and the rest of her race come back one day...
The aforementioned moons of Iego are also finally realized, its main
planet being a beautiful and unusual satellite surrounded by space
junk and populated by the some of the most equally beautiful and
unusual creatures to be seen in a STAR WARS adventure, with man
eating killer plants that Audrey II from LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS
would fall in love with!! And a neat little climbing/cave sequence for
our Jedi heroes, too. Kudos for the City of Cliffhold from early Doug
Chiang designs for EPISODE ONE, whilst the Jedi’s little boy helper/
exposition speaker for the episode, Jaybo Hood, is the final EPISODE
ONE reference icing on the cake-indeed highly reminiscent of the dark
haired Anakin Skywalker from those early Pre-Production drawings of
the mid-nineties (and also possibly a nod to the young Han Solo who
never made the final version of EPISODE THREE), though he’s a little
more precocious than Anni ever was, especially in those early
moments when we are introduced to him-I personally prefer that little
Dantooine kid from Gendy Tartakovsky’s episode to Jaybo-his not
talking was a big plus!!
The re-introduction of the Blue Shadow virus into the plot, turning the
story into a tidy little two parter, and its subsequence resolution, were
well done and there were some genuinely exciting little action
moments where Padme, Ahsoka and Jar Jar were trying to stop the
Battle Droids from spreading the Virus beyond the infected base. The
juxtaposition between the underground lair-all shadows and dark reds,
oranges and blues- against the almost whimsical fairytale lightness of
Iego-grey, pinks, purple and green- worked well, with some lovely
direction and cinematography adding to the mix.
And, finally, applause for giving Captain Rex one of the best closing
episode lines in relation to Jar Jar Binks!!
AFICIONADO RATING: Despite the grim idea of the virus infecting our
female heroines, this was another nice little breather episode before
the onslaught of battle to come that is the Ryloth trilogy. 3 out of 5
EPISODE NINETEEN: STORM OVER RYLOTH

STORY: The battle by Republic forces to liberate the Separatist

captured Twi’leks on their home planet of Ryloth has begun. Stage one
involves Anakin and Ahsoka leading a squadron of Republic cruisers
breaking the planetary blockade. Sadly, the mission goes badly wrong,
with a stubborn Ahsoka, in her first solo mission, failing to follow
orders from her Master in time, and creating a situation leading to the
deaths of many Republic men and pilots in her fighter squadron, and
the injuring of Admiral Yularen. As Ahsoka comes to grips with the
damage to her confidence and her guilt over the lost lives, Anakin
formulates a new and even more risky plan to destroy the blockade.
With time running out for the Republic forces, and the Twi’lek people
in starvation, can Ahsoka get past her demons in helping her friends
win the crucial first stage of the liberation?
AFICIONADO REVIEW: Henry Gilroy’s dream for a story of action,

drama and courage based on the D-Day landing/invasion of Normandy
finally comes to THE CLONE WARS in this mightily epic, long awaited
three part Ryloth trilogy. Nicely splitting the characters involvement in
episodic sections, this first part focuses on Anakin and Ahsoka, and
brings a new dimension to them-their first serious tragedy and their
first serious failure together- and how both come to terms with it-
resulting in Anakin, fighting his feeling of loss, formulating an even
bigger, even more riskier plan, but one that will only place himself in
danger, whilst a guilt ridden Ahsoka has to find the courage to come in
to support her master and win the day with her solid second wave
attack. All of this was not your average prime time kiddie fare!! The
script and dialogue for the Jedi duo was good but I felt more could
have been done with it-the failure was far too quickly obliterated-it
had to be for time and plot considerations anyway- but I hope that we
get some more depth with regards to the Master and Padawan
relationship in future episodes-I look forward to seeing where the
writers take them…will it be a darker journey? Despite that criticism,
though, the final shot of Anakin watching the battle and enjoying the
Separatist destruction that he’d wrought was both darkly funny and
clever –with just a hint of Vader’s craftiness thrown in.
Equally nice to see was a Trade Federation Captain-Mar Tuuk- who
wasn’t quite as dumb as the rest of his race (he may not be Grand
Admiral Thrawn, but he certainly gave the Republic fleet and Anakin a
black eye!!), the return of the FLASH GORDON communication screen!,
and the nasty Wat Tambor (whose death by Anakin in EPISODE THREE
should not have been cut out!!). And Ahsoka gets her own green Artoo
unit!!
Added to all that were the terrific space battles-a wave of colour,
explosions and highly detailed ships panning to the camera-including a
nice Star Destroyer maneuver scene lifted from HEIR TO THE EMPIRE
added to the episode by Dave Filoni-genius!, and it was terrific to see
the Y-wings back in action once again, and causing some serious
damage that we never got to see them do in the Original Trilogy!!
AFICIONADO RATING: It may not have been as totally satisfying on

the dramatic level that I had been hoping for-and yes, I know it’s
primarily a show for younger audiences!!- but STORM OVER RYLOTH
was still a fine and spectacular, action packed start to this epic three
parter that should have been a movie! 4 out of 5
EPISODE TWENTY: INNOCENTS OF RYLOTH

Writer: Randy Stradley and Henry Gilroy (episode screen credit is to
Henry Gilroy)
STORY: The second phase of the liberation of Ryloth has begun.

Unable to land their heavy cruisers due to the Trade Federation’s
newly installed proton cannons, Obi-Wan leads his Ghost Company
force to the Twi’lek city of Nabat to wipe out their entrenched
attackers, who are now using the planets inhabitants as a protective
shield. As the battle in the abandoned city streets intensifies, two
advance scout Clone Troopers, Waxer and Boil, encounter a young
Twi’lek child, Numa, whose help and knowledge of the city soon proves
instrumental in aiding the Republic forces.
AFICIONADO REVIEW: The battle intensifies in this extremely well

written and made episode, a lovely nod by its creators to the classic
Gregory Peck war time classic THE GUNS OF NAVARONE, building on
the excitement of the previous first part, and carefully balancing action
adventure against a nice little personal story of two Clone Troopers
discovering of the seemingly abandoned Twi’lek child, Numa. In the
hands of many film makers this sequence could have been blood
curdlingly awful and clichéd but in this CLONE WARS episode its
carefully handled, and Numa proves both sweet, charming and gutsy
(and nicely voiced by Catherine Taber-who makes the girls few vocal
impressions absolutely count, as well as successfully capitalizing on
the audience’s heart strings), without being vomit in a bucket-
inducing. Added to the child’s isolation, as her parent and people have
disappeared, this episode’s war scenario parallels obviously to the very
real conflict in Iraq, where Saddam Hussein had employed similar
human shield tactics to those of the emotionless Tactical Battle Droid
TX-20, who, technically, makes its first appearance in the series (this
episode being made in production before JEDI CRASH). Fortunately,
and thankfully unlike the real life war, the Jedi win this encounter
without loss of life, and Obi-Wan shines in this episode-its great to see
him back with Commander Cody and using his Force abilities to the
full, particularly in controlling the Gutkurr animal attack and his
manipulating EMP bombs at the Battle droids. Very cool.
As always, the visual elements are superb-nice to see the Probe Droids
back, and any sequence with the Republic Gunships in action and
racing across the planetary vistas are always great in my book- and
the episode ended, not only with a rousing moment where the Twi-leks
decapitate TX-20, but also a touching sequence where the Clone
Troopers Waxer and Boil discover exactly what little Numa’s continual
use to them of the word “Nerra” means.
Phase two of the Ryloth ground battle has been won. Phase three
begins...and it’s time for Mace Windu to kick ass!!
AFICIONADO RATING: Another supreme Henry Gilroy effort, and Justin

Ridge is the definitive director so far for any major Clone Trooper
related episodes. 5 out of 5
EPISODE TWENTY-ONE: LIBERTY ON RYLOTH

STORY: The final phase of the Ryloth liberation begins, as Mace Windu
and his Clone forces reach the critical capital city, Lessu. With no
access to it except by plasma bridge, and with heavy Separatist re-
enforcements protecting their leader, the vile Wat Tambor, Windu
knows that he will have to contact the planets controversial resistance
leader, Cham Syndulla, and ask for his help in the final decisive battle
to come. But even as he does so, Tambor and his Tactical Droid, under
orders from Count Dooku, plan to retreat the world but not before
leaving it a dead wasteland-making it an example to any planet that
dares ask for help from the Republic. As a quotient of Vulture Droid
bombers escape Anakin and Ahsoka’s air battle containment and head
for Lessu, can Mace and his forces take the city in time…?
NOTE: Twi’lek Jedi Ayla Secura was originally to have appeared as an

undercover operative on the planet in the Ryloth saga but, due to lack
of available animation man power at that time at LUCASFILM, she
never appeared in the trilogy episodes which were actually made
before her appearance in the prior transmitted JEDI CRASH adventure.
AFICIONADO REVIEW: Whether leaping onto a STAP droid from a

collapsing plasma bridge, joining his Clone Troopers on mini AT-RT’s,
throwing huge shield doors on enemy tanks or just conversing with
Twi’lek resistance fighters to liberate their home world, Mace Windu,
even in cartoon form, is still the man. Criminally under-used in the
Prequels, he gets more to do in this one episode of THE CLONE WARS
than most of REVENGE OF THE SITH!! Epic battles deserve epic heroes
and this was the one that we had all been waiting for-it seemed
sensible for the Producers to save a Mace Windu-centric episode for
something big league, and worthy, episode-wise, and it doesn’t getting
any more spectacular than this final part of the Ryloth trilogy-the
actual liberation of the planets main city. Such a pairing seemed liked
symbiosis to me, and this finale was a cracker, the last ten minutes in
particular were brilliant paced and directed in true STAR WARS style,
with Rob Coleman’s penultimate episode ever more confident in its
cinematography and its visual ideas and flourishes (with some nice
visual touches/nods to previous episodes (really liked that cool little
scrap between the Clones and the Battle Droid commandoes),
EPISODE III and even the Blurrg creatures from the Ewok films thrown
in), and linked to a Henry Gilroy script that once again delivered the
goods. Added to that, TC Carson did a great job as Mace Windu with
some fine support from British actor Robin Atkin Downes who finally
gets some better vocal range as the Twi’lek resistance leader, Cham
Syndulla. It’s also nice to see Wat Tambor get a fair bit to do, too (and
he moves like he’s on wheels-like that horribly green monster from
CHORLTON AND THE WHEELIES!!) Let’s hope the Republic holds him
captive for a little while and doesn’t lose him so badly as they did Nute
Gunray in CLOAK OF DARKNESS!! And finally, after being confined to
the live action deleted scenes universe for so long, let’s not forget the
appearance of the corrupt politician Orn Free Taa-seemingly working
for the cause of his people but eventually just as corrupt as any
member of the Trade Federation!!
AFICIONADO RATING: A brilliant ending to a constantly exciting and

involving trilogy. And a visual triumph, too. What a shame this never
made it to the big screen as it deserved to be seen. 5 out of 5
EPISODE TWENTY-TWO: HOSTAGE CRISIS

Writer: Eoghan Mahoney
MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: SERIES TWO, EPISODE FOUR
NOTE: We presume, with only a few months prior notice, that the
decision to change the running order of the final four episodes, with
the Ryloth trilogy now preceding HOSTAGE CRISIS was possibly so as
to promote the new villain Cad Bane better, and especially to tie the
finale episode as a lead in to Season Two’s opening adventure?
STORY: With Padme and other high ranking Senators captured and
held hostage on Coruscant by a ruthless band of Bounty Hunters, led
by the calculatingly vicious Cad Bane, a lightsaber-less Anakin
Skywalker, also trapped within the enclosed Senate Chambers, must
attempt to liberate his friends and stop the enemy group before their
demands to have Ziro the Hutt released are acceded to. But is he a
match for this new enemy whose plans so far have totally succeeded?
AFICIONADO REVIEW: Heavily trailered and publicized in a deliberately

similar and equally successful way as Boba Fett was for THE EMPIRE
STRIKES BACK (so hyped up in a matter of weeks, in fact, that the
only thing missing this time was a pre-release action figure like Fett
had from 1978!! I hope you’re listening to this, HASBRO-you missed
an opportunity there!), Cad Bane’s overnight success doesn’t just
come with his striking visual appearance-who couldn’t resist the
appearance of an alien who looks like he’s just wandered off the set of
a spaghetti western movie!! Based on the original aborted plans for
Fett, drawn by McQuarrie and possibly Joe Johnston, the eerie look of
the Durosian red eyes add to his impact along with a creepy raspy, old
yet alien voice over from the talented Corey Burton. Straight from the
episode’s opening scenes onwards Bane soon shows why they’ll be
fans dressing up as him at next years CELEBRATION V, proving just as
ruthless, quick thinking, adaptable and dangerous as both members of
the Fett family should have been in the films!! From the animation
schematics, he’s certainly packed with all the accouterments to add to
their popularity-only a jet firing rocket back on his back is missing!!
Sadly, most of the character’s gadgets shown in that publicity key art
sent to fans on the web we’ve not seen in action yet-from the Season
Two trailer, though, that’s for a future re-match against Anakin that’s
still to come. And we can’t wait!! Well done, Filoni and company…
Bane’s colleagues are just as much as unique as he is-a mixed bag of

equally formidable aliens and droids (with the IG-88 type droid much
better animated here than his colleagues were in their first
appearance, DOWNFALL OF A DROID), all hideous but nonetheless
appealing and intriguing to STAR WARS fans who can’t resist a good
nemesis for our heroes. And, finally, no longer trapped on a balcony
watching a podrace, Aurra Sing, voice by Jamie King, makes a
welcome return to the saga-the scene where she cold bloodedly kills a
senate guard confirming her nonchalant attitude to her victims or
anyone else who gets in her way.
In a story that has echoes of DIE HARD and STAR TREK: THE NEXT
GENERATION’s episode STARSHIP MINE, both of which have our
mostly weaponless main hero trapped in a sealed building/ship where
they have to escape/rescue friends held hostage by terrorists, again
this is nothing new. But really, that doesn’t matter at all. HOSTAGE
CRISIS is a vehicle designed and plotted solely to show off just how
cool and dangerous these new bad guy bounty hunters are going to
be- heck, they certainly aren’t afraid of Jedi-even Anakin!!
HOSTAGE CRISIS sees returning director Giancarlo Volpe having

stronger material to play around with than he had in the previous
BLUE SHADOW VIRUS (and after the dry deserts and boulders of
Ryloth its nice to return to the gleaming blue sky and glistening
buildings of the planetary “civilization” known as Coruscant), though
both episodes are equally beautiful and stylishly realized-the Prequel
environments of EPISODE ONE seem to resonate with the directors
work. After seeing only the depths of the city in the first movie, it’s
nice to return to the gleamjng sci-fi metropolis of Coruscant in its
upper levels and enjoy the political machinations playing against the
action by Palpatine (I also have to mention the sterling work done by
the series writers in addressing or putting in sly references to modern
political shennanigans that are going on in our own real world-like the
highly controversial invasion of privacy bill). Though, I’m still not a
great fan of Ziro the Hutt, his presence in the story and the impetus he
gave for the bounty hunters to demand his release made this end of
season episode a nice bookend to the animated movie.
Another plus for Prequel fans was the first, and hopefully not the last,
appearance of Bail Organa-we hope he stays around but that he’s
better voice actored in the future. Nice to see so many EPISODE
THREE senators amongst the hostages, too, and a couple from
previous animated shows like TRESPASS. There was even one of those
slinky silver female BETTIE PAGE-type droid waitresses!!
Though it’s great to have them back together, some clunky dialogue
between Anakin and Padme comes a short time after the bounty
hunters first appearance, yet, plotting-wise, it has to be like that in
order to separate Anakin from his lightsaber- it’s the only reason he
could possibly be without it. Fortunately, the rest of their scenes work
fine, though Threepio only gets one line of dialogue in the episode,
which is a bit of a shame!! To be honest, Anakin’s overall actions
served very little to the plot-as previously mentioned it was only ever
about the bounty hunters and what they could do, and in that respect,
the installment succeeded admirably.
AFICIONADO RATING: As efficient as the bounty hunters it showcased,
HOSTAGE CRISIS was an intriguing, though unusual feeling season
ending which I felt it deserved to be another five minutes longer. For
once, the villains- a terrific new menace whose shades of grey,
character wise, will prove formidable and dangerous in ways that the
Separatists can’t be to our STAR WARS heroes-got away with their
crimes of violence and chaos, and such a move by the writers
continues to keep the show interesting for the future (leading into a
Season Two conflict between them and the Jedi that should be pretty
damned awesome!!). 4 out of 5
OVERALL SEASON REVIEW: A superb start that

exceeded all my expectations and proved superior to
the pilot movie, which was very enjoyable, released in
cinemas. Brilliantly animated, and seemingly more
ambitious with each episode, it was nice to see such a
great mixture of story-telling in this premiere year,
where clearly a lot of thought and respect to the STAR
WARS universe has been taken, and the use of our
heroes throughout was exemplary. New character
Ahsoka Tano will no doubt be a hit with young
children of all ages, as will the cool Captain Rex, and
its nice to see the cool bad-dette of the previous
animated series, Asajj Ventress, get a look in during
action packed episodes opposite such heavyweight as
Count Dooku and General Grievous. Season Two will
surely have a lot to live up to after this stunning
launch. Overall Season Rating: 4 out of 5
SEASON TWO: RISE OF THE BOUNTY

HUNTERS

Executive Producer (for Season One episodes incorporated into

Season Two): Catherine Winder
Produced by Cary Silver
Supervising Director (including additional dialogue and story

material): Dave Filoni
Story Editor/ Series Writer: Henry Gilroy
Staff Writers (Season Two): Scott Murphy, Katie Lucas, Brian

Larsen
Supervising Writer: Drew Z Greenberg
STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS made by LUCASFILM

ANIMATION
Distributed worldwide by WARNER BROTHERS
Above image: copyright LUCASFILM ANIMATION. With

thanks to Chris Baker for the image composition.
VOICE CAST
Matt Lanter as Anakin Skywalker Ashley Eckstein as Ahsoka

Tano Catherine Taber as Padme Amidala
James Arnold Taylor as Obi-Wan Kenobi / Plo Koon Dee Bradley
Baker as the Clone Troopers/Admiral Trench/ Bossk/Geonosian
Queen Tom Kane as Yoda / Admiral Yularen / Tactical Droids/
Narrator Nika Futterman as Asajj Ventress (does not appear in
Season Two)
Corey Burton as Count Dooku/ Cad Bane/ Mandalorian
Troopers Terrence "TC" Carson as Mace Windu Ian Abercrombie
as Chancellor Palpatine/ Darth Sidious Tim Brock as the Medical
Droid/various voices Matthew Wood as General Grievous/ Battle
Droids/ Poggle the Lesser
Gwendoline Yeo as Nala Se (Kaminoan)
Tom Kenny as Nute Gunray/ Lt. Divo
Phil Lamarr as Kit Fisto/Bail Organa
Brian George as Ki-Adi-Mundi
Meredith Salenger as Barriss Offee
Seth Green as Todo (Episode One only)

Daniel Logan as Boba Fett (Episodes Twenty to Twenty Two)
Robin Atkin Downes as Rush Clovis (Episode Four), Castas
(Episode Twenty One/Twenty Two)
Anqelique Perrin as Adi Gallia (Episode Nine),
Chris Edgerley as Eeeth Koth (Episode Nine)
Jamie King as Aurra Sing (Episodes Twenty to Twenty Two)/
Cassie Cryer (Episode Eleven)
Gregory Baldwin as Tera Sinube (Episode Eleven), Casis, Seripas
and Gwam (Episode Seventeen), Doge Urus and Dugs (Episode
Eighteen)
Kath Soucie as Mon Mothma (Episode Sixteen)
Jon Favreau as Pre Visla (Episodes Twelve to Fourteen)
Jim Cummings as Hondo (Episode Seventeen and Twenty Two)
Julian Holloway as Admiral Kilian (Episodes Twenty and Twenty
Two)
Cara Pifko as Doctor Sinova Bell (Episodes Eighteen and
Nineteen)
Dave Filoni as Embo (Episode Seventeen)
Anna Graves as Duchess Satine (Episodes Twelve to Fourteen)
Meredith Salenger as Barriss Offe (Episodes Six and Eight)
EPISODE ONE: THE HOLOCRON HEIST
Writer: Paul Dini

Made in Production Order: Season One, Episode 23
First US transmission date (CARTOON NETWORK): October 2nd 2009

First UK transmission date (SKY MOVIES PREMIERE): October 24th
2009
Notes: In the US, this episode was shown as part of a special one hour
double bill alongside CARGO OF DOOM.
Story: Hired by Darth Sidious, the ruthless bounty hunter, Cad Bane,
with two of his associates, break into the Jedi Temple on a mission to
steal a Holocron. Can Anakin, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka stop him before he
escapes with his prize?
Review: A confident start to the season, the episode has a smashing,

full on action sequence on Felucia (as previously seen in EPISODE III’s
ORDER 66 sequence) that gets the pulse racing (it even has a Plo
Koon moment to keep Mister Filoni happy!!), and the new animation is
impressive, though the episode possibly peaks too early because of it.
The heist plot that follows on is good, though, and there’s lots of great
opportunities to see more of the Jedi Council, the Temple and the
Archives (and a neat move in having the previously reckless Ahsoka
placed there in punishment by the Council), as well as officially
showing the Jedi Holocrons themselves-the stuff of Expanded Universe
legend for years now become a reality, as well as the nice mention of
the Kybur crystal (previously created, but unused, for STAR WARS in
1975, and then for Alan Dean Foster’s 1978 SPLINTER OF THE MIND'S
EYE novel, as a very powerful Force object, but now, in the new
Lucas/Filoni created realm, sadly relegated to being little more than a
mere information device). Equally welcome are appearances from
Jocasta Nu in the archives and another of those eerie Changeling
creatures (with a neat little lightsaber duel involving it and Ahsoka to
boot!). Not so welcome, however, is Seth Green’s droid character of
Todo 360, who I found subtly annoying and visually jarring with what’s
already been created in the STAR WARS universe-the character was
created for the kids, though, so I’ll have to accept that fact.
Overall, even with some nice little flourishes from expert animation
writer Paul Dini, it feels as if the Holocron story was created more as a
lead in to CARGO OF DOOM, once it was transplanted into Season
Two, rather than as its own fully fledged installment, after LUCAS
ANIMATION realized the potential of expanding the Bounty Hunters
involvement into this new season. In that respect, THE HOLOCRON
HEIST works less as an individual episode but better as a nice little
taster for what looks to be a more ambitious and exciting set of
adventures than what we’ve seen previously (and which had already
been terrific in its own right!!).
AFICIONADO RATING: A Holocron stealing 4 out of 5
EPISODE TWO: CARGO OF DOOM
Made in Production Order: Season One, episode 13 (Note: this episode

was previously created for Season One but held over for Season Two
instead)
First US transmission date (CARTOON NETWORK): October 2nd 2009
First UK transmission: October 31st 2009
Story: Finding Bane in the Devaron system, Anakin and Ahsoka board
his Separatist Cruiser in an attempt to retrieve the Jedi Holocron and
the also stolen Kybur crystal, which, when used together, will give the
Sith dangerous knowledge of the locations of the next generation of
Force-sensitive children. With his prior hostage Jedi, Bolla Rapol, now
dead from torture, Bane knows that he must capture one of the new
Jedi boarders alive so as to complete his mission…
Review: Another confident winner in the excitement stakes from Rob

Coleman, and it’s a real shame that there is only one more episode of
his to come before his sad departure from the show. Bar some Battle
Droid comedy dialogue that falls totally flat, CARGO OF DOOM is a
winner from start to finish, with a well-plotted story by George Krstic. I
particularly liked the Walker battle on the hull of the Separatist ship,
followed by the superb zero gravity fight in the hangar (loved that slow
mo shot with Anakin and Bane). Unlike the previous episode, where he
was really in the sidelines whilst his aides did the hard graft, this time
the nasty bounty hunter gets more opportunity to test his mettle
against the Jedi, firstly torturing that poor Rodian Jedi, Bolla Ropal,
and then creating a great boo-hiss sequence when he captures Ahsoka
and forces Anakin to activate the Holocron info. Overall, Bane is an
excellent new addition to the show, nicely designed- with that creepy
voice from Corey Burton- and I hope that his villainy gets even more
complex, adaptable and dangerous as time goes on (as he so amply
demonstrates in the stories finale). Though, with his prominent rise to
villainy, let’s not forget the previously successful Grievous (now
unseen since the middle of Season One!!) and Ventress, eh?
AFICIONADO RATING: A head-bumping 5 out of 5
EPISODE THREE: CHILDREN OF THE FORCE
Writers: Henry Gilroy and Wendy Meracle
Made in Production Order: Season Two, Episode Three
First US transmission date: 9th October 2009

First UK transmission date: 7th November 2009
Notes: with a two week holiday transmission gap between episodes 4

and 5, this episode got its first repeat on October 23rd 2009.
Story: With several Jedi children now captured by Bane, of which

Darth Sidious plans to turn them into the first of his new Dark Side
converted agents, it’s a race against time by the galaxy traversing Jedi
to find the captured Younglings and stop any further kidnappings.
Review: The first officially created episode of Season Two gets

underway. Concluding the Holocron Trilogy, CHILDREN OF THE FORCE
is a great planet encompassing adventure moving at a very strong
pace. Finally, Darth Sidious gets a much bigger part to play in
proceedings, having pretty much more to do in this one episode that
he had in the entire first season of the series, and is played with relish
by Ian Abercrombie. I Loved Darth Sidious’s plans for the Jedi
Younglings-he’s now become the ultimate child minder from hell!! In
his alternate guise as the kindly Supreme Chancellor, there was also a
fun little scene between him and Anakin adding to their Father/Son
relationship (I loved the scene where Palpy looked down at Ahsoka
with a polite ignorance and then shut her out of the meeting!!)-
however, plotting wise, wouldn’t Anakin have just spoken to him via
hologram about the Jedi mission, rather than see him in person? Why
go all the way back to Coruscant to tell him and take himself/Ahsoka
out of the mission like that? Perhaps this interesting little character
scene was added late in the day and the stories plotting had to be
adjusted. Equally welcome, as a nod to the Prequel movies, was the
villain’s secret lair-a return to the lava world of Mustafa in a nice tie-in
with EPISODE THREE. Like Sidious, Cad Bane is once again proving an
equally tough cookie to capture, as his Black Stall space station trap
for Mace and Obi-Wan (James Arnold Taylor sounding more like Ewan
McGregor every day than Ewan McGregor!!) proves- great little
INDIANA JONES reference, too, when Mace reaches for his lightsaber
as the shield door is coming down. With more of his bounty hunting to
come, Bane needs to be even more villainous and nasty if he’s to ever
equal the silent but deadly Boba Fett. Misters Filoni and Gilroy take
note.
As with THE HOLOCRON HEIST, it’s great to see more development of

the Jedi, too- interesting seeing how they are changing during the
three year war, indeed resorting to drastic measures in order to fight
the Dark Side, particularly uncomfortable being the necessary use by
Mace, Anakin (who suggests the idea) and Obi-Wan to interrogate
Bane, using their Force mental powers in a combined effort to try and
crack the location of the kidnapped Jedi children out of him-the
uncomfortable look on Ahsoka’s face says it all, really, in this dramatic
and subtly disturbing sequence. The titular characters of the episode
were also cute to see, with a nice diversity of onscreen alien races,
including a Gungan, Rodian and Nautolan.
All in all, this was a solid, thoroughly enjoyable ending to the three-
part saga, with mature storytelling-though I still feel that CARGO OF
DOOM was, by far, the best part of the trilogy story and direction wise,
with a bit more verve than its climax.
AFICIONADO RATING: A lava-ry 4 out of 5.

EPISODE FOUR: SENATE SPY
Writer: Melinda Hsu (with additional material from Henry Gilroy)
Made in Production Order: Season Two, Episode Five
First US Transmission: 15th October 2009

First UK Transmission: 14th November 2009
Notes: in the US, the series takes a two-week break after this episode
due to Halloween/Autumn holidays.
Story: Against Anakin’s wishes, Padme accepts a mission from the Jedi
Temple to re-acquaint herself with Scipian senator Rush Clovis, with
whom she previously had a close relationship, in order to determine
whether he is a traitor to the Republic and working with the
Separatist’s banking clan. Accompanying Padme in the guise of a
Naboo security officer, will Anakin be able to protect her during the
vital spy mission/visit to Cato Neimoidia, or will his dangerous jealousy
get in the way?
Review: SENATE SPY is a fun, outside the norm, beautiful looking

episode that gives voice actors Catherine Taber and Matt Lanter- who
work really well together in the series when given a chance- some
good character depth and dramatic meat to work with in their vocal
guises as Padme Amidala and Anakin Skywalker, in this STAR WARS
version of the classic Cary Grant/Ingmar Bergman war time
love/espionage drama NOTORIOUS- SENATE SPY pays homage to it
right down to that film’s spiral staircase finale (and if you haven’t seen
the original film then you owe yourself to check it out-it’s great, an
American movie classic). The STAR WARS re-interpretation doesn’t
quite match the original for suspense, though, but it’s a bold try, in
which both the writers and animators have fun playing with Anakin
and Padme’s relationship- this series strength being that it can do
things in the episodes which time had never permitted in the movies,
so the love/marriage between the pair doesn’t seem as forced as it
occasionally did in the Prequels (so much of their scenes having been
paired down to the bare bones, or coming across occasionally as a bit
forced dialogue-wise, especially in EPISODE III)– here they have the
chance to breathe a bit as characters in this new medium and become
a bit more developed and complex. Then, as the episode goes on and
Padme’s spy mission unfolds, there is the adding suspicion and
jealousy to Anakin in his behavior towards her (a fan expected
element and subplot that was also eventually cut out from III).
Despite the strong central idea, though, story logic and certain aspects
of established continuity within this episode went out the window. I’m
assuming that parts of the Banking Clan are neutral and, like their
modern day counter-parts, play both sides of the fence in war, but
why would the Trade Federation, the enemies of the Republic, still be
represented in the Senate? Surely Padme, with all the threats from
Nute Gunray-the leader of the TF, would face a death sentence for
going to Cato Neimoidia, no matter whether she was a spy or not?
Though I applaud the proud creative team for an episode without
guns, explosions or violence (and I hope we see more of these
character based episodes in future seasons), SENATE SPY’s resolution
ends a little too quickly, and easily accomplished, for my taste, though
the sub-plot of the Geonosians re-building the Droid Forces works well
as an intro to what looks to be an action packed fifth episode.
Though not defined enough-perhaps he’ll return in the Geonosian mini

arc-Rush Clovis was an interesting character. There were also some
fun little moments in the episode linked to Anakin’s jealousy towards
him-I actually laughed out loud when the jealous Jedi piloted the ship
in a way so as to separate him from Padme-a comedy moment that
worked in relationship to the Anakin of the animated series-that scene
would never have been successful in live action with Hayden
Christensen. Another great example of the creative latitude and scope
of the series within its new animated home.
It was great to see Threepio in his first appearance in Season Two, and
Anthony Daniels, as ever, is excellent (though, as the only true voice
star from the films, I think its time he had a lot more to do within the
series in general, beyond his protocol duties-perhaps a solo adventure
where his involvement is truly critical to the Republic, or one just with
Artoo). The same goes for Captain Typho, too-whom the writers
seemed to have conveniently forgot this episode- shouldn’t the
Senator’s top bodyguard have done far more than just sit in the ship
awaiting orders?
On the visuals side of things, the episode, as ever, was terrific and had
lots of things to keep the heavy duty fans happy-again a lot of it nicely
leading in to EPISODE III, like the bridge world of Cato Neimoidia, and
other Prequel places likes the impressive Senate building interior and
corridors, the Jedi Council (nice to see Padme there, too, conferring
with them). Equally nice were the little appearances from the
aforementioned Lott Dodd and Poggle the Lesser. And how can I not
mention that outfit Padme wore towards the end-Hai Karumba!! Was
George Lucas designing another Padme outfit? If only Natalie Portman
had worn that in the films!!
AFICIONADO RATING: A well-deserved character episode, though

good could have been greater with a bit more script work. A spy-ing
by numbers 3 out of 5.
EPISODE FIVE: LANDING AT POINT RAIN

Made in Production Order: Season Two, Episode Seven
First US transmission: November 4th 2009 (this was a special

presentation airing on CARTOON NETWORK, followed by a repeat on
Friday November 6th)
First UK transmission: 21st November 2009
Notes: According to Dave Filoni on a video commentary at

STARWARS.COM, the original first version of the episode was rejected
by STAR WARS creator George Lucas, and the episode was
subsequently reshaped with his total involvement in it, insisting that
the battle sequences keep the in your face realism style of the work he
had previously created for the movies, and using old time war footage
as a basis for the heavily revised action sequences. Thanks to the
intensive hard work, dedication and enthusiasm of the Production
Team to meet Lucas’s last minute requirements, this episode would
soon prove an unqualified success.
Story: With the Republic distracted by the continued attacks of

General Grievous, the insectoid Geonosians have managed to restart
their colossal Battle Droid/weapons building program for the
Separatists. Now, against a truly overwhelming planetary army
expecting their arrival, a huge Republic task force, led by its major
Jedi commanders, begins an invasion of Geonosis in a final once and
for all bid to stop the weapons factories, contain the planet and
capture its greedy and vicious ruler, Poggle the Lesser.
Review: To say this episode was one of the most spectacular segments
of any type of STAR WARS would be a colossal understatement. This
must have been both an animators dream and an absolute nightmare
to realize in equal measure. Incredible camera moves and hundreds of
different elements (characters, ships of all shapes and types of flying,
weapons, laser blasts and lightsabers, explosions and environments-
more than you normally got in half a season of the previous premiere
run) are brought to life in an adrenaline rush of action and fierce
conflict on the dry catacombs world of Geonosis. From the moment
you see the mighty legion of Republic starships coming out of
hyperspace you know that this new storyline is going to be something
far bigger than anything seen previously with the equally epic Ryloth
trilogy. It was great to see the Jedi and Clones fighting against a more
deadly and skillful enemy than the regular Battle Droids-the
Geonosians are just as loathsome as ever-creatures with independent
thought and dangerous abilities that can fight ruthlessly and in
unexpected ways (loved that creepy moment when they flew out of
the dark cave and started taking away Clone Troopers, and the
sequences where they showed relish using their heavy weaponry
against both the Clones and Jedi). The final battle with our heroes
attempting to smash through the enemy’s huge wall defenses was
incredible (and I loved the scene where the Droidekas unexpectedly
popped out from the floor hatches against Anakin and Ahsoka in a
heart pounding moment I wasn’t expecting). There was genuine threat
and danger in this episode and a return to the STAR WARS excitement
we’ve known and loved for years- all mixed with the kind of WORLD
WAR II type realism we’ve come to expect from George Lucas. This
was obviously the STAR WARS creators attempt to do the ATTACK OF
THE CLONES battle of Geonosis take two-only ramped up 1200 times
faster and more intense. This managed to incorporate a lot of
elements of which there was simply no time to include during the
second Prequel film, as well as improving existing elements of the
animated series (both Anakin and Ahsoka worked very well together as
a fighting force-I’m much more comfortable with their pairing
nowadays). Amongst the many other joys of this episode was the first
appearance animation-wise of Jedi Ki-Adi-Mundi (with a nice rendering
from Brian George, last heard as the Toydarian king in Season One’s
AMBUSH). And it was great to see RYLOTH’s Waxer and Boil involved
in the action, too-with the battle around them becoming more and
more dangerous as they rescue Obi-Wan. On the injuries front, I was
actually quite shocked to see both Ki-Adi and, worse, Obi-Wan
suffering, and the final moment where the latter was sitting down and
out of the fight brought a little lump to this reviewers throat-amazing,
I almost thought of this animated figure as a real person (Filoni and
the gang are certainly doing something right, here!!)- I’d never seen
the character look so powerless. Admiral Yularen, though, is starting to
annoy me- he’s on the fast track to become one of those irritating
commanders that Vader liked to dispense his anger on in the Original
Trilogy!!
There was so much going on during the battle that it will require
multiple viewings to see all the detail (And this episode is only the
beginning, as the hunt for the dug-in Poggle the Lesser begins). This
made the previous highlight battle of Teth look like a picnic stroll. With
the first stage of the Republic landing operation just about successful,
it was nice to have a little moment of humour to end the episode, with
Anakin getting a surprise from Ki-Adi.
If any AFICIONADO members haven't been interested in seeing THE

CLONE WARS animated series, I really, really do suggest that they
watch the latest episode and give it a try from now on. If there was
ever a time to start watching the series and enjoy it, this was it. It’s a
shame that we’ll never get to see all four parts of this put together on
the big screen-perhaps someone at CELEBRATION V can do some big
screen showings of these major episodes.
Kudos to everyone at LUCASFILM ANIMATION for such a terrific

episode.
AFICIONADO RATING: Even bigger in the risk factor, this was an

intense and highly exciting episode-truly the best episode yet, with the
most spectacular war scenes ever seen in the series so far. If I could
give it more than 5 out of 5, I would. This episode was the business
and truly captured the magical action and adventure element that the
saga does so well. THE CLONE WARS is well and truly back with a
bang after its US short break. A crash-tastic 5 out of 5
EPISODE SIX: WEAPONS FACTORY

Made in Production Order: Season Two, Episode Eight
First US transmission: November 13th 2009

First UK transmission: November 28th 2009
Story: With the battle raging on Geonosis, Jedi Padawan’s Ahsoka

Tano and Barriss Offee undertake a daring, and highly dangerous
mission, to infiltrate and destroy the enemy Droid factories.
Review: A quieter but nonetheless efficient second part to the epic new
battle of Geonosis, with a special mission for Ahsoka and the Padawan
to Luminara Unduli, Barriss Offee-nicely voiced by CLONE WARS
newcomer, Meredith Salenger, though looking a bit younger than I
anticipated in relation to her last film appearance in ATTACK OF THE
CLONES, presumably a decision made to have her and Ahsoka look
more equal on visual and character terms. Making a welcome return to
the saga, Barriss’s pairing with Anakin’s Padawan in their mission to
destroy the Geonosian droid foundry from within, whilst their Jedi
masters create a diversionary assault from outside, proves a nice idea,
though, in all honesty, there wasn’t much time to create depth with
their pairing beyond the fact that both represented the traits of their
Masters teachings and personalities- Ahsoka being more reckless in
the mission, whilst Barriss was more controlled. Added to that central
idea there were lots of great action moments (the bridge top scene
was terrific-I loved seeing Luminara, her usual stoic battle hardened
self, and Anakin hanging underneath it setting the bomb charges, as
well as some cool moments created from unused EPISODE II
animatics, like the aerial sneak attack on the Clone ground forces by
the Geonosians-once again it’s nice to see a non Droid enemy, and the
introduction of their new tank weapons, with ray shielding, was an
interesting addition to the series. There were also a few effectively
creepy moments, too- the scene where Barriss, in the underground
tunnels full of sleeping Geonosians, is caught in the hand of one of the
insects whilst it slept, being a notable highlight. Some more of that
kind of fear and atmosphere would be most welcome in future
episodes, adding another effective layer to an organically improving
series.
AFICIONADO RATING: A simple but effective continuation of the

Geonosis arc, with ever improving and refined animation. 4 out of 5
EPISODE SEVEN: LEGACY OF TERROR
Writer: Eoghan Mahoney
Made in Production Order: Season Two, Episode Nine
First US Transmission: 20th November 2009

First UK Transmission: 5th December 2009
Notes: In the US, after transmission of this episode, the series takes a
one week Thanksgiving break before resuming with Episode Eight.
Story: Having disappeared whilst on the hunt for the escaped Poggle
the Lesser, Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi lead a clone force
in search of Luminara Unduli. Entering an unknown underground
region of catacombs, they encounter a new form of Geonosian-the
deadly Queen of the species-as well as discovering her legion of totally
subservient, undead slaves. Can the Jedi rescue Luminara before the
Queen absorbs her mind into the ranks of the undead?
Review: Some good old-fashioned scares and further creepy

Geonosian moments make LEGACY OF TERROR another successful
entry in the series. Nice to see Obi-Wan recovered for action, with
Anakin, amongst some fun homages to ALIEN and its sequel, whilst
the poor Clone Troopers, and Luminara Unduli to some extent, really
go through it. With the current popularity of Zombies across the world,
and in all types of media, their appearance in Geonosian form in both
this episode, and as possessed Imperials in the recent DEATH
TROOPERS novel, is most welcome, as was the concept (though kinda
pinched from STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN and the Ceti Alpha
eels) of their being infected as part of the Geonosian Queen’s rule of
terror (I didn’t really guess that it was Dee Bradley Baker doing the
vocals-great stuff, but why was she speaking basic rather than her
native language??!!). And, rounding it all off for those fans really
serious about things like this, Luminara finaly gets the right lightsaber
to use!!
AFICIONADO RATING: Nothing new concept-wise, but still atmospheric

enough and beautifully animated to be entertaining. A cave busting 4
out of 5
EPISODE EIGHT: BRAIN INVADERS
Writer: Andrew Kreisberg
First US transmission: 4th December 2009

First UK transmission: 12th December 2009
Made in production order: Season Two, Episode Twelve
Notes: In both the US and UK, the series takes a Xmas break and airs
re-runs, resuming for the formers advance transmission from January
1st 2010, the latter the end of January 2010.
Story: On a medical supply mission to aid General Windu’s forces

currently in fierce battle on Dantooine, Padawan’s Ahsoka Tano and
Barriss Offee find themselves fighting for survival within their Republic
frigate when the crew and Clone forces become infected by Geonosian
mind control worms.
Review: You’ve got to love that episode title, eh? This is a great
looking episode by the ever-confident Steward Lee, with a good
starting script from THE CLONE WARS newcomer Andrew Kreisberg.
BRAIN INVADERS continues and successfully concludes the previous
three parts of the Geonosis storyline and maintains the creepy
atmosphere developed in LEGACY IN TERROR. The zombie like infected
Clones scenes are handled well- scary but not too terrifying for the
shows predominant younger audiences, and, like LEGACY, there are
more little film homage moments- the distribution of the worm pod
scene reminding me a little of 1978’s excellent re-make of INVASION
OF THE BODY SNATCHERS.
On the visual side, it’s great to see the Blockade Runner-like interior
and deep core of the Republic Medical Frigate (and kudos for a few
shots recreating camera angles from A NEW HOPE), there’s more
development on those intriguing worm parasites, some nice creepy
horror moments, and some good lightsaber duels between Ahsoka and
the possessed Barriss, both characters having a good share of the
episodes action and horror. As the situation on the cruiser deepens,
things get even better towards the episodes final act when Anakin
interrogates Poggle to find a solution to the dangerous worms-and a
nice subtle use of the Imperial March here in a moment that is easily
one of the best scenes of the episode, though the way Anakin sidelines
the torture issue with his Jedi colleagues was a little weak and
unresolved-surely they’ll find that the Geonosian has some serious
neck injuries now!!
Overall, the dark leanings towards EPISODE III are moving along
nicely-there’s the scene where Ahsoka talks to Barriss about Anakin’s
“radical” ideas on the way the Republic should be led, and the obvious
overtones of the possessed Clone Troopers as they fire at their Jedi
leaders. There’s also a nice nod to the 2003 CLONE WARS animated
series episode of Mace Windu fighting on Dantooine, though
LUCASFILM still doesn’t seem to officially want to tie the two animated
series together continuity wise, a fact which I find most annoying.
AFICIONADO RATING: Again, nothing new on the story front, but the
episode was well plotted with some good moments and looked terrific.
And, hey, ole smiley Kit Fisto was in it!!! 4 out of 5
EPISODE NINE: GRIEVOUS INTRIGUE
Writer: Ben Edlund
Made in Production Order: Season Two, Episode 14
FIRST US TRANSMISSION: 1st January 2010:

FIRST UK TRANSMISSION: 30th January 2010
STORY: When Jedi Master Eeth Koth is taken hostage and tortured by
General Grievous, Anakin, Obi-Wan and Adi Gallia devise a daring
rescue plan that may also finally see the capture of the feared Droid
leader. But, upon their first engagement in the Saleucami system, they
soon realize that Grievous has initiated a cunning entrapment plan of
his own.
REVIEW: Unseen for a lengthy absence of the last half the first season,
the dreaded General Grievous thankfully returns to his diabolical and
vicious schemes to destroy the Jedi Knights in this excellent, almost
mid-season, return. With an exciting and lengthy fight that goes some
way to making up for their all too brief face off in REVENGE OF THE
SITH, the duel between Grievous and Obi is nothing short of fabulous-
brilliantly choreographed and full of good banter between them. One
fan critic has said that these new animated episodes have gone a long
way in making /rehabilitating Grievous as a more palatable and deadly
force-a statement I fully agree with, and is, as always, voiced with
relish by Matthew Wood. It was also a pleasure to see more of the Jedi
roll call being established in this series, especially those that had
previously been in the furthermost sidelines-like EPISODE ONE’s Eeth
Koth (Back from an Expanded Universe demise-again, another subtle
decision by Lucas impacting on the Expanded Universe and its
continuity. There’s bound to be more changes when those pesky
Mandalores turn up!!!), and Adi Gallia. Both characters have nice
moments and some great action to partake in (I loved the opening
when Koth threw Grievous against the observation glass). As ever, the
ambitious animation continues to impress, with a fine space battle
(utilizing previously unused OT/PT designs for the Republic fleet),
some great angles (like the hyperspace jump right into Grievous ship
by Anakin and the 180 degree turns of his ship as he is forced to
rescue Obi and Gallia) and the aforementioned action sequences.
There’s also the return of the Clone Commander Fox, now sporting a
mechanical eye, those fearsome Droid Commandoes and the return of
the Jedi Temple war room. This season certainly showcase THE CLONE
WARS subtle harder edges-it’s going to be very interesting to see how
far it goes dramatically and whether it will venture beyond its target
younger demographics.
AFICIONADO RATING: Straight back into action with this highly

exciting tale-another terrific episode for the second season with a
strong plot and dialogue from newcomer Ben Edlund (any relation to
Richard?) and some great direction-the strongest yet- from Giancarlo
Volpe. 5 out of 5
EPISODE TEN: THE DESERTER
Writer: Carl Ellsworth

Director: Robert Dalva
FIRST US TRANSMISSION: 1st January 2010

FIRST UK TRANSMISSION: 6th February 2010
NOTES: Returning from its Xmas beak, this episode was shown in the
US alongside GRIEVOUS INSTINCT as part of a special double bill re-
launching the series on CARTOON NETWORK.
STORY: As the hunt for General Grievous by Republic Forces spreads

out across the alien plains of Saleucami, an injured Captain Rex,
sheltering with a farming family, encounters a deserter Clone Trooper-
Cut Lawquane.
REVIEW: Though its not exactly anything spectacular like Geonosis or

Felucia, the planet Saleucami, previously mentioned in REVENGE OF
THE SITH, finally comes to life as a subtly intriguing jungle/grasslands
world and proves a worthy background for THE DESERTER’s character
drama and action sequences. Directed with flair by Lucas’s old friend
now noted film editor, Robert Dalva (who, for all you info fans out
there, was also a second unit director for the Sandpeople scenes shot
in Death Valley for STAR WARS waaay back in January 1977), the
previous pursuit of Grievous takes a bit of a back seat in this episodes
diversion from the normal kinds of storytelling, as the ever reliable
Captain Rex is injured after a commando droid sneak attack and is
forced to recuperate in the unexpected company of a fellow clone, Cut
Lawquane, who turns out to be a deserter from the Republic army. The
early tense relationship between the pair proves interesting (the
concept of Lawquane reminding me a little of the very early CLONE
WARS novel called THE CESTUS DECEPTION, written by Steven
Barnes-perhaps that tale, with its strong character development of one
particular Clone Trooper, may have had some influences on this
episode’s genesis), especially with regards to their differing views on
loyalty and the Clone War, but, being a family show, any realistic
conclusion to the story by series newcomer Ellsworth instead becomes
something completely predictable-even though the army of commando
droids show up to terrorize Cut’s family we know that they are going
to get through the danger pretty much unscathed. Likewise, despite
some interesting action, the same kind of predictability hampers the
danger and excitement with Grievous’s final escape, too, making this
episode a beautiful looking beast with sadly very little real bite.
AFICIONADO RATING: Interestingly created before the first part of this

Grievous plot line, THE DESERTER is hardly a classic tale by any
means, and could perhaps be considered a let down for die hard fans,
but it does dare to be different and proves another intriguing change
of pace. Cut Lawquane could be an interesting character to revisit if
put within a stronger Saleucami based storyline at some point in the
future. A nostalgic, Dejarik playing 3 out of 5
EPISODE ELEVEN: LIGHTSABER LOST

FIRST US TRANSMISSION: 22nd January 2010

NOTES: After a two week transmission break, the series returns for a
three week continuous run in the US.
STORY: Assisting Anakin in arresting an arms dealer, Ahsoka loses her

lightsaber to a thief. Unable to ask her Master for help, she enlists the
aid of an elder Jedi, the Bothan Master Tera Sinube, well versed in the
seedy side of Coruscant and its criminal inhabitants, in an attempt to
find it, and, in doing so, discovers both a murderous plot and an agile
bounty hunter.
REVIEW: A charming little entry in the second season. LIGHTSABER

LOST owes more than a passing nod to the work of Akira Kurosawa
and his movie STRAY DOG (in which a rookie policeman similarly loses
his gun to a villain). Ahsoka holds her own nicely as the star of the
episode, with excellent support from the lovable new character of Jedi
master Tera Sinube (great to see what a Bothan finally officially looks
like after all these years!!), who I think will prove very popular with
fans of all ages (I loved his very cool lightsaber/cane), voiced
exceptionally by Gregory Baldwin-the mix of an elderly and young Jedi
working together in the central story being an element that I found
very pleasing from series script writer Drew Z. Greenberg.
Madame Jocasta Nu makes a welcome re-appearance, as do Yoda’s
younglings, and we also get a chance to see a lot more of the seedy
underbelly of Coruscant, seen all too briefly in EPISODEs TWO and
THREE, plus a wide variety of the alien species which have helped
make STAR WARS such a standout success over the years.
The rest of the plot after Ahsoka begins her quest, however, is pretty
humdrum (I wasn’t a great fan of the Ione Marcy character), though
the sequence where she is chasing the alien killer Cassie Cryer is a fun
and exhilarating homage to the free jumping chase that launched the
beginning of Daniel Craig’s James Bond career with CASINO ROYALE in
2006, and is well put together by series regular stylist director
Giancarlo Volpe. Plus there’s a nice little holo speech from Palpatine,
written by Dave Filoni, that’s well worth looking out for.
AFICIONADO RATING: A fine blending of central story idea and

animation, LIGHTSABER LOST, like THE DESERTER before it, isn’t
going to win any best episode of the season awards, but was overall a
satisfying, general audience friendly 22 minutes, with a great
introduction for Master Sinube. 3 out of 5
EPISODE TWELVE: THE MANDALORE PLOT
Writer: Melinda Hsu

Director: Kyle Dunlevy
FIRST US TRANSMISSION: January 29TH 2010

FIRST UK TRANSMISSION: February 20th 2010
NOTES: An idea for a Mandalore story was originally pitched by Henry

Gilroy and Dave Filoni for Season One but was turned down by George
Lucas, who thought it was too early to introduce them into the Clone
Wars conflict. Lucas changed his mind for Season Two.
STORY: Obi-Wan Kenobi travels to the planet Mandalore to meet with

the leader of the Council of Neutral Systems, the Duchess of Satine,
about a sinister new series of events transpiring on her world and
affecting its people. Together, the pair travel to the segregated
Mandalorian moon of Concordia to investigate the inter-linked return
of a deadly super commando army called DEATH WATCH, whose re-
appearance could have devastating effects on the out come of the
Clone Wars and against their sworn enemies- the Jedi.
REVIEW: Obi-Wan Kenobi’s lone, subtle investigation in to the

Mandalore plot of this adventure has the same kind of 1920’s/30’s
detective style mystery that fans, for the most part, enjoyed, in the
second STAR WARS Prequel, with this animated episode keeping an
equally similar slowly building level of intrigue and mystery, laced with
some finale action that, unlike EPISODE II, is decidedly quite small
scale. Equally intriguing is the acerbic but obviously mutually attractive
relationship between the Knight and the neutral leader, the Duchess
Satine (intriguingly the name of Nicole Kidman’s character opposite
Ewan McGregor in MOULIN ROUGE- Co-incidence? Dave Filoni and
Henry Gilroy say it is!!)- again, drawing parallels to 1920/30’s
Hollywood movie storytelling, the pair almost like a poshed up version
of Indy and Marion from RAIDERS, with the kind of polished
dialogue/camaraderie that Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn
would have enjoyed if they were in an action film- prickly but loving!!
And let’s not forget another type of cliffhanger with the finale factory
scene, where one of our heroes is caught in another diabolical
predicament!!
Overall, Melinda Hsu's script was far above much of the normal
animation fare we get- nice to see a lone Obi-Wan tale with a bit more
character building - and a continual example of the way THE CLONE
WARS is going from strength to strength in that area, and quite
sophisticated. Good, too, was seeing a few more British actors
partaking in the series voice work, like Julian Holloway as Prime
Minister Almec, and there was also a welcome return for
actor/comedian Greg Proops (who last played one of the alien
commentators of the Boonta Eve pod race in EPISODE ONE) as Tal
Marik.
With the Duchess Satine we finally have the first blonde lady in STAR
WARS, and a Cate Blanchett look-a-like at that (a deliberate, and much
welcome, move by Dave Filoni-picking an actress with a face and acting
talent that wouldn’t have looked out of place in the aforementioned classic
Hollywood film studio system era-with a range capable of making her both
a dangerous and alluring femme fatale as well as a plucky heroine). Skilled
voice talent veterans James Arnold Taylor and actress Anna Graves, as
Satine Kryze, put their experience to good use in helping the episode’s
writer, Melinda Hsu (who wrote the fun episode of LOST called SOME
LIKE IT HOTH in season five!!), create a believable relationship that we’ll
discover more about as the next few weeks roll on (there’s obviously a lot
more to his relationship with the Duchess than we think).
So, THE MANDALORE PLOT had some nice moments, but I actually
have to say, like Hsu’s previous SENATE SPY, I found the episode
mildly disappointing (perhaps I was just hoping for something to rival
ATTACK OF THE CLONES in the defining story landmark stakes). After
all the recent exciting episodes, especially on Geonosis and with the
return of Grievous, I was expecting something a bit more deadly,
exciting and in your face confrontational and awe-inspiring from the
DEATH WATCH Mandalorian warrior outcasts on Concordia (and I still
prefer their original home world name of Concord Dawn-its sounds
much more mysterious and evocative of them)-the few soldiers that
did appear in this episode, led by Jon Favreau in a nicely surprising
guest spot as Pre Vizsla (whose character was another welcome new
addition to the seen on screen STAR WARS pantheon of villains), had
very few good moments to shine (though once more it was nice to see
the Jedi fighting off against adaptable humanoid enemies: and they
certainly gave Obi a bashing at one point, though, a few minutes later,
disappointingly went into dumb villain mode a few minutes later!! Why
does that happen??!). I understand that this is a three part story and
that the producers don’t want to play their trump cards just yet with
the characters, but I hope we get to see a lot more of them en masse
in a future episode, as well as discover even more about their genesis-
how about a flashback tale?
I gather that some of the established EU history of the Mandalorians is

present in this episode (including the revised addition of the EU
character of Vizsla?) but much has been changed, leading to a great
deal of hissing fits in the worldwide EU fan community and frustrations
by certain authors, the end result of this episode being an unusual
hybrid of Lucas and EU ideas that won’t please everybody. Overall,
what do I think about all the changes to EU continuity that have
angered the fan base? Well, its Lucas’s universe-he’s the father
creator-what he says goes as far as I’m concerned the storyline is
concerned. What he wants to create doesn’t have to tie in with
anything that the EU does-people will just have to accept that fact and
everyone, including LUCAS LICENSING and LUCAS BOOKS will adapt
to the changes as they always do. Perhaps it’s time, finally, to officially
just make the EU realm of STAR WARS a completely separate entity,
especially now that the animated series, and the eventual live action
one, are on the air in a constant state of evolutionary flux. I have to
say I’ not an expert on the Mandalore race and its warriors as so many
of the EU cult are, but the ideas presented in the episode were
intriguing (loved that black darksaber-bravo, Mister Lucas for that
one!!), and I was curious about the reference to Jango Fett- so, is he a
Mandalorian or not? My take from the dialogue between Obi and Prime
Minister Almec is that he isn’t.
As for the rest of the ingredients, well, once more, the look of the
planet was great (the interior look of the domed city of Sundari was
different to what I expected but still felt very much in the all defining
and stand out STAR WARS mould-a closed in Coruscant built within a
framework of cubes and glass on a white sand planet was both
intriguing, contrasting nicely with the later seen forest/factory worlds
of Concordia, and exciting to look at), and the direction was certainly
adept and as confident as ever. So why wasn't I as fully impressed as I
should have been? Well, it’s back to the Mandalorians again. As the
visual forebears to Boba and Jango, I wanted something bigger and
tougher than what we got (though the suicide bomber idea was pretty
dark for a children’s show, I have to say!!)- we’ll have to blame the
trailers for my disappointment (they just did too good a job of
arousing my keen imagination and excitement for the episode). Here’s
hoping that my expectations are completely satisfied by this three-
parter’s conclusion and that the Mandalorians get the action they
deserve.
AFICIONADO RATING: The appearance of Mandalore-its civilization

and its super commandos- in the series was always going to be
controversial. Just how much of an impact they’ll make in THE CLONE
WARS animated series is unknown, but I have high expectations of
some epic conflicts to come in the next few seasons. Despite promising
direction from newcomer Kyle Dunlevy, I have to give the episode a
not quite what I expected 4 out of 5 (ideally it should be a 3 out of 5,
but the welcome first appearance of the Mandalorians pushes it to a
4).
EPISODE THIRTEEN: VOYAGE OF TEMPTATION
Writer: Paul Dini

FIRST US TRANSMISSION: 5th February 2010
Made in Production Order: Season One, Episode 21
NOTES: This episode was created quite some time early in the
production schedule, before THE MANDALORE PLOT and THE DUCHESS
OF MANDALORE.
STORY: En route to Coruscant to plead the case for her system’s

neutrality within the Clone Wars conflict, the Duchess Satine, traveling
with her advisors and senators on her Royal starship, must rely on
Obi-Wan and Anakin to defend her from a malicious series of
assassination attempts. But who on board is secretly aiding the Death
Watch in their cause?
REVIEW: A tense journey for all concerned in the second part of the
Mandalore storyline. The welcome return of Paul Dini brings some
good story plotting and a nice biting interplay between ex-lovers
Duchess and Obi that builds on the hints of an earlier relationship
established in THE MANDALORE PLOT (nice to find out a little bit more
about how he first met the Duchess when he was with Qui-Gon Jinn
(c’mon, lets have a novel about this, eh?), and I loved Satine’s
dialogue regarding Obi-Wan, such as "Senators, I presume you are
acquainted with the collection of half-truths and hyperbole known as
Obi-Wan Kenobi?" Some nice role reversal relationship moments, and
teasing, too, between Anakin and Obi-Wan), then a rather traditional
adventure story kicks in a short time later with nothing truly exciting
about the episode bar some albeit great visual flourishes (the terrific
exterior and interior look of the CORONET spacecraft, which reminded
me a little bit in places of the cruise liner from THE FIFTH ELEMENT in
its grandiose regal stylings) and some interesting action moments (the
assassin droids), though the episode is lifted to a more notable
conclusion with an excellent scene involving Anakin who, in a
satisfyingly true Vader moment, has to make a critical life/death
decision that only he could make. An additional plus to the tale is the
return of Artoo- its feels like a very long time since we’ve last seen
him, and the STAR WARS universe doesn’t feel the same without him.
Sadly, the Mandalorian presence is pretty indifferent in the story-they

play no real part in it and they could just as easily have been any
Separatist villains in charge of the assassination plot (and at least if
Ventress or Dooku had been in it we may have had a lightsaber duel!).
Instead of the Super Battle Droids, it would have been fun if the
enemy boarding party had been a squad of Mandalore Commandos (I
want to see Rex and Cody take ‘em on!!) but I suppose it was not to
be due to this episode’s required story constraints that will lead into
the finale.
Unless I’m proved wrong by the next episode, I’m now starting to
assume that the Mandalorian presence is indeed just a taster for
something hopefully much bigger in scale further down the road,
otherwise this could all be the biggest wasted opportunity of the
animated series so far.
AFICIONADO RATING: Some good moments of action and dialogue

and the usual supreme production values, but this was pretty much a
by the numbers episode for this reviewer- sophisticated, yes, but
lacking the full kind of STAR WARS excitement that I expect from the
series, especially when its linked to the enigmatic and dangerous
Mandalorians. 3 out of 5
EPISODE FOURTEEN: DUCHESS OF MANDALORE

FIRST US TRANSMISISON: February 12th 2010

FIRST UK TRANSMISSION: March 6th 2010
NOTES: A sequence of Anakin getting ready to lead Republic

soldiers to Mandalore sadly never made the episodes final cut.
With this episode the show once more takes another

transmission break until March 19th 2010 in the US.
STORY: When a transmission from Mandalore indicates their

being overrun by the Death Watch terrorist organization, the
Republic plans a pre-emptive strike/occupation of the planet- the
ultimate response that Count Dooku has been waiting for in
unleashing Pre Visla and his new army, firmly hand in glove with
the Sith Lord and primed for battle with the Republic. The
Duchess Satine, pleading the case for her planets neutrality,
denounces the transmission as false, and, in a race against time
before the situation escalates, goes on a secret mission within
the streets of Coruscant to discover the truth, though Death
Watch have also sent one of their best assassins to destroy her.
Can Obi-Wan help her in time?
REVIEW: A satisfying, though hardly amazing, episode, concludes

the Duchess of Satine/Manadalore arc. With no real pizzazz or
grandeur, or even an accelerated sense of heightened danger, it
was very much the visual side of the episode, and its many links
to those elements I loved from the Prequels, that made THE
DUCHESS OF MANDALORE as enjoyable as it was. Great to see
all the main characters back from the Republic Senate, like
Palpatine (loved his brief Sidious scowl at the chamber podium
near the end of the episode), the intimidating Mas Amedda,
Padme and the like-I’m probably one of the few who always liked
the political shenanigans and intrigue of the Senate and all its
varying characters good and bad (and we also saw Mon Mothma-
how cool was that!! It can’t be long now before she’s got some
big stuff- perhaps alongside Bail Organa in March’s SENATE
MURDERS episode?) Nice to see the animated series own
pantheon of characters making cameos, too (like a second non-
speaking cameo from TRESPASS’s Senator Chuchi). As the drama
plays out, and the Sith maneuvering of Satine and her people
begins, our episode opening visions of armies of Mandalore
soldiers going into battle fizzles out, sadly never coming to
fruition (at least not yet), the race kept in a holding pattern for
the foreseeable future, though the singular assassin we see
striking on Coruscant certainly shows he’s up to the task of
fighting a Jedi, especially one of Obi-Wan’s talents, in an
interesting little combat sequence reminiscent of the Rumble in
the Rain from EPISODE II (and I really loved Filoni’s
incorporating some of Ralph McQuarrie’s classic paintings into the
sequence, too, where the cloaked Satine and Obi-Wan covertly
meet up at the plaza, as well as the Clone Troopers holding
defensive shields like the early Stormtrooper concepts for STAR
WARS in 1975-its nice touches that make this show even more
worth while to watch). A further note of kudos to Kevin Kiner for
the excellent, and highly sinister, Manadalore theme, which made
a re-appearance at certain points in this episode.
Talking of the two ex-lovers, the Satine/Obi-Wan Kenobi

relationship had no real resolution, either, so a future re-
appearance looks equally likely, though I do have a bad feeling
about the Duchess’s future….
So, although this arc had a definite beginning, middle and end,
this reviewer had been hoping for sooo much more. The
Mandalorians certainly deserved something more epic scope-
basically, they needed a plot the size of a singular movie or
perhaps a feature length TV adventure, to do them the justice
they truly deserve.
AFICIONADO RATING: Fans of Obi-Wan Kenobi will certainly be

pleased with the way he has been such a strong focus in the
story-arc, but Mandalorian fans may be disappointed overall. A
bucket head wearing 3 out of 5
EPISODE FIFTEEN: SENATE MURDERS

Made in Production Order: Season Two, Episode Ten
FIRST UK TRANSMISSION: March 13th 2010

FIRST US TRANSMISISON: March 19th 2010
Notes: This story was shown first on the UK SKY MOVIES PREMIERE
channel, a week before the US’s CARTOON NETWORK. The UK will now
see the rest of the series from this point in an uninterrupted run and
before its US counterparts.
Story: As Padme and her fellow senators prepare to counter against a

new bill sanctioning the Republic’s increased production of Clone
soldiers in the escalating war, one of her dearest friends is poisoned,
leading the Naboo politician, alongside Bail Organa of Alderaan, to
discover the murderous culprit.
Review: The Coruscant political arena becomes more dangerous than

ever for Padme and her closest friends in SENATE MURDERS. It’s great
to see her and Bail Organa working together again (and involved in
some action, too), as is seeing them immersed in with what will
ultimately become the Delegation of 2000 committee against the
actions of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine in EPISODE III. Catherine
Taber once again impresses as Padme and her scripted character is
fine throughout, too -I especially liked that knock out punch she gives
the villain at the end!! It’s always nice to have any story with Bail
Organa though I would prefer Jimmy Smits to be back as his voice.
Rumours that Smits was returning to the role now seem unfounded.
Another plus was a nice little scene for the serene but powerful Mon
Mothma. With so much of their political resistance cut out from the
final edit of REVENGE OF THE SITH, this building collection of senate
involving episodes is overall a positive step in restoring their
believability in their attempts to stop the Clone War from escalating
further.
The introduction of the corrupt Kaminoan senator, Halle Burtoni -proof

that not everyone in that race is so seemingly benign- was a pleasing
addition-more please. Onocanda Farr, or “Uncle” as Padme would
lovingly refer to him, proves the perfect choice to kill off for the story,
and adds some depth to both Padme and to the intrigues and
powerplays going on within the Senate, though the sinister and
intriguing Mee Deechi was killed off way too early in the episode and
could have been an effective recurring obstacle for our heroes.
However, the Republic inspector Divo (I’ll just call him Div!!), a
bumbling, over-gesticulating character whose facial features had more
than a passing resemblance to the excellent British actor Toby Jones,
though probably a very good idea on paper-I’m sure they were hoping
to make him a loveable COLUMBO-type- lacked a decent execution
onscreen and his vocal playing by Tom Kenny was a misstep to this
reviewer, much like Seth Green was as Todo earlier in the season-
both roles looked like they had come straight off the set of a direct-to-
DVD- DISNEY film rather than belonging to the STAR WARS universe
as believable characters. If this is first of many future appearances for
Divo, then I really hope they get better.
In an adventure so full of characters, what about the actual story

itself, though? Well, pretty basic and hardly anything classic on the
STAR WARS front, to be honest-all conveniently tied up with no sense
of serious challenge to our heroes within its twenty two minute
running time, with Padme discovering the truth in so quick a time as to
probably make Agatha Christie and Jessica Fletcher green with envy!.
Helping greatly to redeem the tale were the beautiful minutae that
continually adds depth to the STAR WARS universe- loved the nicely
staged cinematography where the Republic cruiser departs Coruscant
with Onocanda’s body, and the return of Palpatine’s blue honour
guards.
And one final bit of praise for Ian Abercombie who really is marvelous
as Palpatine- the other Ian- McDiarmid- would be proud of his
animation voice counter-part.
AFICIONADO RATING: Though an improvement on SENATE SPY with

regards to Padme, it may have been a mistake having two Senate
related episodes in a row-to have broken it up with CAT & MOUSE, an
Anakin space adventure, in the middle may have been a better idea,
especially for the US as there has been quite a long break between
episode transmissions recently.
Overall, SENATE MURDERS attempts to keep the political arena less

heavy and more involving but is, in the end, only a mild success,
though Catherine Taber shines throughout and always makes it worth
the viewer’s investment of time. 3 out of 5
EPISODE SIXTEEN: CAT AND MOUSE

MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: Season Two, Episode Seventeen
FIRST UK TRANSMISSION: 20TH March 2010

FIRST US TRANSMISSION: 27TH March 2010
Story: Blockaded by a Separatist fleet led by the cunning alien,

General Trench, Bail Organa is trapped on Christophsis with his relief
teams, and in dire need of help. Whilst Anakin and Admiral Yularen’s
task force try to penetrate the blockade, Obi-Wan offers new hope in
the form of a prototype cloaked ship.
Review: Back to the kind of space adventure fare we haven’t seen
since the first part of the Ryloth trilogy, Anakin plays a deadly war
game against a clever and unusual alien tactician, a legend at
destroying enemy ships, in CAT AND MOUSE. Lots of elements of this
episode reminded me of the close combat scenes of STAR TREK
movies II and VI (right down to the destruction of Trench’s bridge,
echoing the death of Christopher Plummer’s General Chang in VI) with
a little bit of the wartime submarine drama U-571 (and THE HUNT FOR
RED OCTOBER, too) atmosphere thrown in. Even Kevin Kiner’s music
had a touch of the WRATH OF KHAN about it. None of these
observations are meant to be negative but it does show you how
Classic STAR TREK continues to affect STAR WARS and vice versa. In
combat, Anakin’s tactics continue to be daring, as does his further
disobeying of Obi-Wan’s orders (again (!), and prior to the arrival of
Ahsoka). Equally calculating is the enemy’s dangerous Admiral Trench
(another well realized villain-his spider form being a cool visual motif-
nice to see more alien species that are part of the Separatist forces-
keep ‘em coming) I loved the new ship design for the stealth vessel (a
snazzy upgrade on the Discovery craft seen in 2001: A SPACE
ODYESSEY if ever I saw one) and its equally snazzy Clone compliment-
fans may wonder what a cloaked ship-an idea common in most other
science fiction series- may be doing in a STAR WARS series but the
idea of this type of vessel had been mentioned as early as THE EMPIRE
STRIKES BACK, so its place in the series is justified, plus there were
some nice scenes between Admiral Yularen and Anakin (technically,
thei relationship is brand new here-this is the first episode of the series
before both THE HIDDEN ENEMY and the animated theatrical pilot
(originally the opening episode of the TV series, to have been called
THE NEW PADAWAN, which was expanded into the eventual film), and
a great little cameo from Bail Organa, where its nice to see him away
from Coruscant and getting mixed in with relief duties across the
Republic. The fascinating world of Christophsis makes its third
enjoyable return to the STAR WARS universe also, which again is most
welcome-though it would be nice to see more of its people and culture
in a later episode, perhaps.
AFICIONADO RATING: Whilst there was very little that was actually
new within Brian Larsen’s straightforward script, it was still exciting
stuff, well told as ever, and a nice change of pace from the Coruscant
episodes. 4 out of 5
EPISODE SEVENTEEN: BOUNTY HUNTERS

Writer: Carl Ellsworth
MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: Season Two, Episode Nineteen
FIRST UK TRANSMISSION: 27th March 2010

FIRST US TRANSMISSION: 2nd April 2010
STORY: Crash landed on Felucia, Obi-Wan, Anakin and Ahsoka join

forces with some hired Bounty Hunters to protect some of the planets
local farmers from the greed and cruelty of space pirates who, it turns
out, are being led by the Weequay known as Hondo Ohnaka. Can the
Jedi reason with old enemy Hondo, or will a battle to protect the
oppressed farmers be on the cards?
REVIEW: THE SEVEN SAMURAI by Akira Kurosawa-it’s an old and

classic story which filmmakers always find fresh ways to re-make and
bring to life. There’s been one foray into the sci-fi movie re-make
arena with Roger Corman’s BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS, but now
Lucas takes his old friends tale and gives it the animated STAR WARS
treatment it deserves (and beyond a similar, more quirky STAR WARS
MARVEL comic tale written by Roy Thomas in 1977), creating a fine
and enduring tribute to his late friend’s work with the CLONE WARS
episode BOUNTY HUNTERS (though concept-wise there are also
obvious parallels to early Season One episodes like last years
DEFENDERS OF PEACE, with a similar score from Kevin Kiner!!).
Making a villainous comeback after another Lucas inspired two parter

from last year, this episode sees a much better, more ambitious use
for pirate Hondo Ohnaka, with his character lines now drawn towards
him being a bit more ruthless and dangerous in his dealings with the
Felucian farmers and their Jedi/Bounty Hunter protectorates (though
there are still a few nice bits of comedy dialogue to enjoy, too, like
"Speak softly, and drive a big tank!!"). Also welcome alongside Hondo
is the return of his naughty Kowakian Monkey Lizard buddy, Muk Muk-
I loved the scene where he was manning the tank cannon in battle and
also when he was trying to eat Anakin’s leg in order to protect his
master. Though the farmer aliens the Pirates threaten prove no great
shakes-a bit of a wet lot, here- there is some nice interplay between
the other characters to compensate, with the Bounty Hunters
deservedly get the most spotlight in this episode. I liked the idea of
seeing some of them as being reasonably friendly, though they prove
as equally tough as some of the Jedi’s past opponents in the field, like
Cad Bane. The varied look of them and their unique abilities was also
another nice plus, with the two stand out characters for me being the
highly impressive Embo (voiced by Dave Filoni no less!!- great in the
action sequences and with a very cool metal hat!!) and Seripas, the
little guy in the robot suit. Some of the excellent rendered action
scenes of them in battle alongside the Jedi and against the pirates
were beautifully rendered, and reminded me a little bit of the kind of
fast paced angles and moves seen in the terrific KUNG FU PANDA!! I’m
assuming there will have to be a sequel to this tale at some point
explaining what happened to the farmers prior to THE HOLOCRON
HEIST and its full Separatist invasion of Felucia. Another pleasing
touch in this episode was the early scene with a small herd of Rancors
(looking like the one cut from the CLONE WARS movie) – a welcome
little visual treat, as was the return of George Lucas’s favourite flying
saucer!!
AFICIONADO RATING: A warm tribute to the legendary director Akira

Kurosawa by his friend Lucas if ever I saw one (right down to the
episode’s opening dedication), this was a lovely tale that was great fun
to watch, with a nice balance between action and danger, perils and
laughter-I have a feeling this particular band of Bounty Hunters will re-
appear in later seasons. Yet another triumphant entry for Season Two.
4 out 5
EPISODE EIGHTEEN: THE ZILLO BEAST
Writer: Craig Titley

MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: Season Two, Episode Twenty Two
FIRST UK TRANSMISSION: 3rd April 2010

FIRST US TRANSMISSION: 9th April 2010
STORY: Wanting to secure a vital trade deal for their planets heavy
fuel resources, the Jedi and the Clone Army assist the Malastarian’s
ward off a huge Separatist army with the help of a new weapon- the
prototype proto-electron bomb. Though the device proves a success,
its detonation brings to the surface an even deadlier weapon of a more
organic kind-the mighty Zillo Beast-a legendary creature living
underground which proves indestructible. Though Palpatine wants to
destroy the beast so as to push the trade agreement through with the
Dugs, the Jedi, Mace Windu in particular, are reluctant to follow his
order, unwilling to destroy a creature that proves to be the last of its
kind. Can some kind of compromise be reached in trapping the
creature before it tears the planet and its peoples apart?
REVIEW: STAR WARS meets GODZILLA and its smash, smash, smash
for our poor Clone Troopers, as the Zillo Beast makes its first larger-
than-life appearance in George Lucas’s universe, in ways much similar
to the origins of the classic Japanese beast it homages (in that a man-
made detonation/seismic event wakens it from its underground home
allowing it to wreak havoc (for the Japanese population we now have
those charming Dugs-nice to see them back en masse, as we find out
that its not just Sebulba that’s devious and crafty-it’s the whole
race!!). Craig Titley’s second script for the series may come across as
pretty basic but its good fun nonetheless. Look out for more classic
examples of CLONE WARS dialogue referencing other classic film
sources, too (I liked the adaptation of the RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK
Indy/Sallah dialogue to Mace and Anakin (“You go first!!”), plus further
cool visual references to the Toho Studios series (so see if you can
spot them), and the return of the infamous Wilhelm scream!
And what about the actual star of the show? Well, old Zillo was
certainly an intriguing new beast for the STAR WARS universe’s ever
growing collection of alien wonders- well designed and animated, and
enjoyably fearsome, but designed in a way that kids in particular will
enjoy without being too scared of it. Kudos also to Mace Windu
(welcome back-you haven’t really been in it much since CHILDREN OF
THE FORCE- whose pairing in this tale with the pre-EPISODE III Anakin
works pretty well), and the other Jedi, for not wanting to destroy what
is more than likely the last of its kind (and, in the process, giving us all
a nice little moral message with regards to the need to preserve the
endangered species living in our own modern world).
The action of this episode in and around the beast’s revival is generally
great on all fronts, from the spectacular ground and air battle that
launches the episode between Republic and Separatist forces (I was
thrilled to see the ARC-170 fighters being introduced into the series-so
where does this tale now fit into the overall time scale-I’m assuming
this adventure is much nearer REVENGE OF THE SITH?), to the Clones
and Jedi then trying to fend off the advances of the awakened creature
(I liked seeing the Republic’s technology being rendered absolutely
useless against it, and the same with the Jedi, too, with the great
scene where Anakin leaps into battle against the beast but proves
equally powerless with his saber (in the end needing the ever heroic
Artoo to jet back and rescue him-a nice touch)), to their finally, only
just, knocking it out with concentrated concussion beams (I liked the
diabolically enthusiastic look on Palpatine’s face when he’s told of the
creatures natural abilities to ward off heavy weaponry, plus his subtle
baiting of Windu for his not wanting to kill it).
Stopped the Zillo Beast eventually is, but, oh boy, the worst is yet to
come!
AFICIONADO RATING: This gargantuan tales gives the animation

teams a chance to flex and push their digital talents even further,
pushing their visual ambitions and creativity ever forward and bringing
to life an adventure and star creature that will hopefully become highly
memorable with fans of all ages (and who doesn’t like seeing big
monsters smash things up spectacularly!!). We can’t wait to see old
Zill’ let loose, CLOVERFIELD-style, on Coruscant in the next episode. 3
out of 5
EPISODE NINETEEN: THE ZILLO BEAST

STRIKES BACK
Writer: Steven Melching

MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: Season Two, Episode Twenty-Three
First UK Transmission: 10th April 2010

First US Transmission: 16th April 2010
Story: Now transferred to a secure research facility on Coruscant,

Chancellor Palpatine, keen to tap the Zillo Beast’s genetic make-up so
as to develop armour resistant to heavy weaponry, orders the
creatures demise for biological study, against the wishes of both the
Jedi and Padme Amidala. It’s not long, however, before the angry Zillo
beast has other plans- escaping its bonds. Hungry for revenge against
its enslavers, it smashes its way into the very heart of the cityscape.
Can Anakin and the Jedi find a way of stopping it that doesn’t resort to
genocide?
Review: RAMPAGE ON CORUSCANT!! This great adventure romp made
the most of pretty much all of its ensemble cast-great to see Threepio
and Artoo back together again, especially- and there were some
terrific little scenes to savour-Yoda and Aayla Secura leaping onto the
beast to buy time, Anakin rescuing Padme in a nice cliffhanger
moment, Obi and Mace using their Force powers combined to stop
disaster, Artoo rescuing Palpataine (if only he’d had dropped him,
Artoo could have saved the Republic so much pain and suffering in the
years to come!!) Backed with the superb creature animation as it
wreaks carnage across Coruscant, THE ZILLO BEAST STRIKES BACK
was an example of all the tremendous scope and range for STAR
WARS that it wasn’t able to incorporate into its movie life.
I loved all the GODZILLA, CLOVERFIELD, VALLEY OF GWANGI and

KING KONG references throughout the tale (sadly, there was no Fay
Wray moment for Padme with the beast but perhaps there will be in
the future) - it certainly gave THE HULK a run for his money against
those Republic gun ships!!- and it was actually very sad when it was
killed-a victim of fate and greed (in fact, you could say this was a story
about two kinds of “beast”-one, the Zillo, fighting against all odds, just
wanting to survive in the natural order of the universe, and the other,
Palpatine/ Sidious, comprised of a far nastier and vicious disposition-
this time it’s the human evil that dwarves the bulky monster!! Ian
Abercombie as Palpatine was once again a pure evil delight throughout
this episode (and his final scene/line of dialogue was excellent) - no
wonder the creature was determined to take a lump out of him –we
were with you all the way, Zil’!!).
With the creation of this monster two parter, its funny how, back in
1997 the STAR WARS team were kind of chastising the US version of
GODZILLA (an internal ILM poster at that time proudfully declaring, in
reference to EPISODE ONE, that “Plot DOES matter!”), yet how things
have changed…now the CLONE WARS universe has a beast with the
same kind of size and destructive power to rival Japan’s favourite city
crushing icon. I guess what goes around eventually comes around, eh.
Special credit for the sound team, too, with the creatures realization-
they really helped give it believability (I also loved the use of the
1940’s air raid warning sirens blaring when it attacked), especially
towards the end with some brilliant work representing the tragic death
throes of the gassed beast, backed with a fine KING KONG-esque
score from Kevin Kiner.
Some terrific camera angles and bits of comedy mayhem also added
greatly to the final episode-in fact, more damage was probably
inflicted on Coruscant in this than anything seen from the huge
opening atmosphere space battle later seen in EPISODE III (in which
the city looked pretty untarnished!!). Once again, the very basic plot
didn’t matter-it was the creature carnage that we were we all wanted
to see, and this was another grand effort from Dave Filoni and the
Gang that was much better than I ever expected, and a fine conclusion
to the Zillo Beast arc (or is it?).
Wrapping things off, it was equally fun to see the line, “I have a bad
feeling about this,” now being used by Palpatine. It seems that not
even the citizens of the Dark Side are immune from saying such iconic
words!!
AFICONADO RATING: It’s not easy being a Zillo Beast!! Superior to its
opening part, THE ZILLO BEAST STRIKES BACK was another winning
episode of the series. A creature-tastic 4 out of 5
EPISODE TWENTY: DEATH TRAP
Writer: Doug Petrie

MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: Season Two, Episode Fifteen
FIRST UK TRANSMISSION: April 17th 2010

FIRST US TRANSMISSION: April 23rd 2010
Story: Infiltrating a Clone training mission on the Republic Cruiser

Endeavour, the young bounty hunter-to-be, Boba Fett, is determined
at all costs to exact his revenge on Mace Windu-the Jedi who killed his
father during the Battle of Geonosis.
Review: Finally, after eight years, that all-important question of just

what happened with young Boba Fett in between the period of
EPISODEs II and III, is finally answered. And in a most satisfying way,
too, with the first of his three part epic re-introducing him to the Saga-
immersed in a well constructed script from newcomer Doug Petrie-
before he dons the rusty Mandalorian armour we know and love him
for.
I was a bit unsure about how Boba would be exactly brought into the
series (done at Lucas’s specific request, apparently) especially whilst
still an angry young child, but what could have been problematic was
effortlessly realized on screen, and the opening sequence where he
was smuggled in with the other Clone Troopers was excellent and well
thought out. The little urges to kill, but not quite (though it surely
won’t be too long before the disintegrations start!!), proved
interesting, and Daniel Logan did a very good voice job standalone and
alongside Dee Bradley Baker as the rest of the Clone children. The only
thing missing was Daniel’s Boba laugh-perhaps that’s being saved for
the last episode.
With revenge on Mace clearly on his mind (so much so that the Jedi
should have picked up who he was when he walked past him on the
Republic cruiser), Boba couldn’t have gotten a more accomplished
Bounty Hunter teacher, mentor and planner in all things chaos and
destruction than the mysterious Aurra Sing, who had a great little
cameo here, which also saw the actress/model finally getting some
meaty dialogue (with more to come). There was also the terrific first
appearance of Slave One (and that welcome ominous sound of its
engines tearing up space).
Jedi Mace Windu continues to be as steadfast and cooled in his

attitudes towards Anakin as always- almost treating him with attitude
and disdain at times- obviously building up on the uneasy relationship
between the pair that will prove catastrophic in EPISODE III-and their
pairing in the next couple of episodes is going to be very intriguing,
especially with Anakin against Fett- considering the later kind of evil
partnership they will have in the Classic Trilogy, Anakin shares similar
problems with boy Boba with regards to not having a father, as well as
certain aggression issues, which will be very interesting to explore if
they go down the route-presumably much later in the series run, and
after this opening three-parter. Perhaps Anakin may later,
unconsciously, hinder Mace in his attempts to capture the boy.
On the supporting guest voice side of things, UK actor Julian

Holloway’s tough, Scottish Republic commander Kilian (named after
Plunkett we presume!!) was a welcome standout addition to the series
(I’m assuming Holloway got the accent job because Simon Pegg was
too busy playing Montgomery Scott in STAR TREK!!), though it also
reminded me of Holloway’s previous Scottish sci-fi role, as the out of
his depth Sergeant Patterson in the original, classic DOCTOR WHO
story from 1989: SURVIVIAL. As usual, there was also the nice visual
touches adding to the episode, like the gun port firing scene, the shots
of the Endeavour docking (very EPISODE IV!!), and the brief cameo of
everyone’s favourite Trandoshan- Bossk.
Playing only slightly against the tale, however, was its disappointing
ending, with the abandoned boy clones being discovered by Anakin
and Mace too easily and quickly. Boba’s deliberately choosing to strand
his brothers in space forever would have been a far more dramatic,
uncomfortable and satisfying end-the first true stages to his
relationship with the dented helmet being cemented. I’m sure many
fellow fans will have been equally annoyed a little with the resolution,
but, at the end of the day, it’s a family show with morals, so our
personal EMPIRE misery-like expectations were never going to be
realized.
AFICIONADO RATING: Despite the aforementioned ending, this was a

fantastic start to Boba Fett’s epic, audience pleasing three part
adventure, and was certainly very worthy of the STAR WARS name,
feeling a little bit more adult in the storytelling stakes. 4.5 out of 5
EPISODE TWENTY-ONE: R2 COME HOME
Writer: Eoghan Mahony

MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: Season Two, Episode Eighteen
First UK transmission: 24th April 2010

First US transmission: 30th April 2010
Notes: In the US, this episode was shown as part of a finale one-hour
double bill on CARTOON NETWORK on 30th April 2010, a week after its
previous exclusive premiere in the UK.
Story: With Anakin and Mace now arrived on Vanquor to look for
survivors of the crashed Republic cruiser Endeavour, the duo are
unaware that Boba Fett and his bounty hunter colleagues have sprung
a deadly new trap against them. Trapped under heavy debris on the
vessels bridge, which is now about ready to explode, can R2 escape
the planet, and Boba Fett, to get help?
Review: The Boba Fett revenge saga keeps up the pace with its second
installment, with Daniel Logan once more getting some fine character
material to work with, especially alongside Jamie King as the almost
surrogate mother hen-like teacher/murderer, Aurra Sing. Will she
continue into the future to be his ultimate trainer in the ways of
bounty-dom? The episode, scripted by veteran Eogahn Mahony was
well constructed (he seems to be born to do episodes that are of a
darker framing) and animated with verve and style once again by
another CW vet, Giancarlo Volpe-its funny how you can see his style of
animation direction more clearly than many others who’ve worked on
the show (with the exception of Dave Filoni and the now sadly
departed Rob Coleman). Setting the episode for the most part in and
outside the remains of the devastated and fracturing Republic cruiser
was inspired and lent itself to lots of tension and atmosphere. It was
interesting to see the often-uneasy Mace/Anakin dynamic from the
previous episode explored more fully, as was seeing the neat pairing
between Artoo and Areight (before its unfortunate demise-some droids
just don’t have the luck!!). With their booby trap soon sprung-good
use of Jango’s helmet!!- the bounty hunters keen anticipation to
recover Mace’s head was well established and it was great to see such
a varied mixture of alien characters alongside Boba-another nice nod
to EMPIRE’s previous Bounty Hunters assembled sequence. Of the
group, Castas proved annoying, though Bossk was terrific, with a
brilliant rasping and reptilian voice that was perfectly brought to life by
Dee Bradley Baker.
Other creatures it was pleasing to see again for EMPIRE’s anniversary

year were the Gundarks, one of which is taken out in a crowd-pleasing
scene, where Artoo sends it, attached to a starfighter, crashing into
the remains of the Endeavour. Wonderful stuff and I laughed out loud
and applauded the little droids cunning.
And, as the title said, this was Artoo’s episode-certainly as the Jedi
were conveniently, but effectively, incapacitated- and our favourite
little astro droid certainly gave Lassie a run for his money in the
getting help against all odds stakes, didn’t he? The way he was
immersed in the story was great and it was fun seeing him using all
the internal gadgets at his disposal to beat back the bounty hunters-
there was one moment where I felt he was almost re-enacting a scene
from the first HOME ALONE movie when he dropped debris down on
the ascending trio of villains!. And his formidable talents as a star
fighter pilot, in a terrific and tense race against time scene, against
Slave One, to get to the in orbit hyperspace rings, certainly could give
Anakin a surprise. All in all, this episodes use of Artoo was far more
ingenious and effective than in his previous Season One’s stories as
main star.
AFICIONADO RATING: This story trilogy is getting better and the
animation this week was superb. One of the series very best. I’m very
much looking forward to Part Three. Here’s hoping it ends on an even
more spectacular note: 4.5 out of 5
EPISODE TWENTY-TWO: LETHAL TRACKDOWN
Writers: Dave Filoni and Drew Z. Greenberg

MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: Season Two, Episode Twenty
First US Transmission: April 20th 2010

First UK Transmission: May 1st 2010
Note: This story was shown in the US as a season finale double bill
with R2 COME HOME.
Story: With Mace Windu and Anakin Skywalker recovering from their
injuries previously sustained on Vanquor, and a threatening ransom
message now received for Windu’s life, Ahsoka Tano and Plo Koon,
having found clues in the dense realms of the Coruscant underworld,
make haste to the planet Florrum to stop Boba Fett, Aurra Sing and
her Bounty Hunter posse from killing two of the Endeavour’s captured
officers, including Admiral Kilian.
Review: There must be a new STAR WARS mantra out there in Lucas
Land: if Plo’s in it, then Dave’s gonna do it!! And I’m sure the Great
Maker himself is only too happy with his results. Yep, that man with
the hat Filoni is back in the full directorial seat for this fast paced,
critical finale to the entire second season, re-establishing the same
kind of serious tone for the next series in the way that HOSTAGE
CRISIS did in linking Season One into Season Two. Between them
(Filoni and series writer Drew Z. Greenberg) they’ve got the rare
choice of penning what must have been one of the coolest story ideas
they’ve had in a short while (the conclusion to the overall Fett trilogy),
and it’s nice to see Filoni let loose creatively in this episode (there’s
some great visual imagery, like the Coruscant nightlife sequence, and
with Slave One) that I’m sure he’s been busting to release to fans over
the years, and he also gets to add some nice touches of dark edginess
and brutality here and there (in a nod to THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK-
his favourite STAR WARS film), like the killing of Clone Commander
Ponds and his subsequent jettisoning into space, and the bloodthirsty
Aurra Sing’s calculated shooting in the back of Castas (handy for the
writers, too, as they needed a way for the bounty hunters to be
tracked down!!), without damaging the shows overall family adventure
tone. Despite such great talent at work, however, the final shape of
LETHAL TRACKDOWN doesn’t ultimately feel like a wholly satisfactory
end to the season or the Boba Fett trilogy-we’ve been with Windu and
Skywalker for two previous episodes and we the viewers expected
them to have some kind of involvement, alongside Ahsoka Tano and
Plo Koon, in wrapping things up. Pairing Plo and his ex-Padawan was a
nice idea but done at the wrong time and at the expense of the overall
story, no matter how neat an idea the CLONE WARS team thought it
would be- doing something that went against the traditional grain in
the evolving story process. Mace’s eventual final scene with the
arrested Boba was also a major let-down, and the dialogue between
the pair-with Mace basically telling Boba to get used to the fact that
his father’s dead, and that’s the end of it!- seemed too short and
undeveloped. I know that the Jedi don’t take revenge but, unless that
aspect is re-awakened to a stroner, more developed degree later in
the series run, it fell a little flat.
Ultimately, bar Boba, this episode was now Ahsoka’s chance for the
spotlight after a run of episodes she hadn’t appeared in much, with her
character seeming more mature now and her place in the series fully
confirmed. She had some great sequences, especially in the action-
from her speeder bike chasing Aurra Sing, to her fight to stop Slave
One at the end (very cool moment when she clipped one of its wings
off with her saber, and its subsequent crash (though we think the
explosion was faked and that Sing, the queen of cold, escaped)). Plo
Koon also proved a good support throughout- I really liked the
complex little fight sequence he and Ahsoka had when taking on Aurra
and Boba in the darkened gambling table room-very western like (did
you notice that cool little Spaghetti Western-like score for Boba Fett
from Kevin Kiner?)
Though our favourite Trandoshan, Bossk, was ultimately wasted in the

entire tale (boo!!), Hondo Ohnaka’s brief non-story advancing cameo
was great fun, as was the revelation of his fling with Sing (loved his
“he’s not one of mine?” question to her about little Boba!!). Jamie King
was excellent throughout the three-parter as the notorious Sing-now a
character we can’t wait to see return at a hopefully not too distant
point- boy, has she got some serious attitude problems!!- though
hopefully not to the detriment of that other bald lady of darkness we
like: Asajj Ventress. As for poor Fett, well, he wasn’t shortchanged,
but there was no more real character development beyond his juvenile
hatred and desire, and whining, for justice against Mace. I’m assuming
the producers will slowly but surely enhance the character in further
appearances over the next few years towards his eventual Classic
Trilogy state. And there’s bound to be some kind of major jailbreak on
Coruscant in the near future.
AFICIONADO RATING: I can’t quite pin my finger on it, but the episode
felt as if it ended a bit too abruptly. Despite some great sequences, it
was a little underwhelming after the previous two fun episodes (again,
all the previous LUCASFILM hype may have hurt our viewing
experiences prior to transmission-building our expectations up just too
high), with a satisfying yet not quite taking your breath away with
excitement kind of conclusion to the season. It was, however, a far
superior ending to what was seen in the previous Mandalore Trilogy. 4
out of 5
AFICIONADO SEASON REVIEW: With more ambition in the story

and animation departments, Season Two of THE CLONE WARS,
with what was an intriguing mixture of tales, was a marked
improvement over its premiere year in many ways-a
commendable effort by Lucas and Filoni’s hard working team.
However, Season One still has the edge over it with some
better scripts and faster paced episodes, often with more
satisfying conclusions, too. With the exception of the majority
of the Geonosis saga (including the superb LANDING AT POINT
RAIN opener), not all of the Season Two mini-arc episodes
lived up to their initial promises (the Mandalorian Saga, in
retrospect, was a let-down), and some of the individual stories
seemed a little bit weak in final development. However,
episodes not too bogged down in continuity, like the superb
Season One holdover CARGO OF DOOM, and the Zillo Beast two
parter, proved great fun, as was the MAGNIFICENT SEVEN-
esque BOUNTY HUNTERS. Also, a special mention of the terrific
GRIEVOUS INTRIGUE-which got the season’s second half
transmission batch off to a great start. Let’s hope that the
General has more than a few dangerous encounters with Jedi
next year, and that we also have the return of Asajj Ventress
and Count Dooku.
Overall, the RISE OF THE BOUNTY HUNTERS title for the season
worked as a marketing idea but didn’t quite live up to its
promise as lengthy story potential-with the exception of Cad
Bane and Aurra Sing there weren’t enough of the baddies and
their evil-dom through the series (especially as one showcase
episode, the aforementioned BOUNTY HUNTERS, showed a
group of them fighting primarily as paid goodies!!). Hopefully,
next season will have more of a stronger core focus if they
return to the concept of the umbrella theme-from the trailer
we’re assuming part of the 2010/2011 series might be linked
to Filoni’s previously mentioned return of Jabba and his Hutt
clans. We look forward to the future of the series, and what
looks like a darker road for the character of Ahsoka Tano to
travel, with great anticipation. Roll on, next October!!
OVERALL SEASON RATING: 3.5 OUT OF 5
SEASON THREE: SECRETS REVEALED
Supervising Director (including additional dialogue and story

material): Dave Filoni
Staff Writers: Scott Murphy, Katie Lucas, Brian Larsen
Supervising writer: Drew Z Greenberg

ANIMATION

VOICE CAST
James Arnold Taylor as Obi-Wan Kenobi / Plo Koon/Various voices
Dee Bradley Baker as the Clone Troopers/Saesee Tiin/Various voices
Tom Kane as Yoda / Admiral Yularen / Tactical Droid / Narrator
Nika Futterman as Asajj Ventress/Sy Snootles/Gardulla the

Hutt/Various voices
Corey Burton as Count Dooku/ Cad Bane/ Ziro the Hutt/ Various voices
Ian Abercrombie as Chancellor Palpatine/Darth Sidious
Matthew Wood as General Grievous/BattleDroids/Poggle the Lesser
Tom Kenny as Nute Gunray
Phil Lamarr as Kit Fisto/ Bail Organa
Meredith Salenger as Barriss Offee

Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn (Episode 15-16)
Pernilla August as Shmi Skywalker (Episode 15)
Clancy Brown as Savage Opress (Episode 13 and 14)
Barbara Goodson as Mother Talzin (Episodes 12-14) Tasia Valenza as

Shaak Ti (Episodes I and 2)
Brian George as King Katuunko (Episode 3 and 14)
Seth Green as Todo (Episode 8 and 9), Ion Papanoida (Episode 4)
Tom Kenny as Inspector Divo (Episode 4), Greedo (Episode 4)
Kevin Michael Richardson Richardson as Jabba the Hutt (Episode 4, 8,

9), Marlo the Hutt (Episode 9)
Katie Soucie as Mon Mothma (Episode 10)/ various voices
Ahmed Best as Jar Jar Binks (Episode 3)
Gideon Emery as Lotte Dodd (Episode 10)
Stephen Stanton as Mas Amedda (Episode 10)
Jennifer Hale as Senator Riyo Chuchi (Episode 4)
Robin Atkin Downes as Jedi Di (Episode 3), various voices
Jamie King as Aurra Sing (Episode 7)
Al Rodrigo as Quinlan Vos (Episode 9)
James Mathis III as Captain Typho (Episode 7)
Daniel Logan as Clone trainees (Episode 2)
Anna Graves as Duchess Satine Kryze (Episode 5/6)
Phil LaMarr as Orn Free Taa (Epiosdes 10 and 11)
Jennifer Green as Senator Riyo Chuchi (Episode 4)
Julian Holloway as Prime Minister Almec (Episodes 5 and 6)
Al Rodrigo as Quinlan Vos (Episode 9)

Angelique Perrin as various voices
Stephen Stanton as Captain Tarkin (Episodes 18-20)
Blair Bess as Even Piell (Episodes 18-20)
Gwendoline Yeo as various voices
Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca (Episode 22)
Note: the episode synopsis shown here come from

STARWARS.COM
EPISODE ONE: CLONE CADETS
Writer: Cameron Litvack
Made in Production Order: Season 3, Episode 1
First US transmission date (CARTOON NETWORK): 17/9/2010
First UK transmission date (SKY MOVIES PREMIERE): 23/10/2010
STORY: Five headstrong clone cadets struggle to complete their

training on the ocean planet of Kamino. Unable to work together as a
team, they must learn to embrace their future as soldiers before they
are drummed out of the academy.
REVIEW: Teamwork and comradeship to survive and thrive seems to

be the order of the day, and the main moral message for children and
families watching the season three opener: CLONE CADETS. The
presentation of the message is a bit heavy handed in some parts of its
scripting, but some strong direction from Dave Filoni plus the re-use of
the popular Clone characters from ROOKIES (here known as Domino
Squad: Echo, Fives, Hevy, Droidbait and Cutup), in a prequel tale set
before the events of that popular season one story, puts the episode a
cut above the norm. There’s also the great visuals of Kamino
stunningly realized and the welcome introduction to the series of
Master Shaak Ti (nicely voiced by Tasia Valenza), in a nice nod to the
DARK HORSE Clone Wars comics written between EPISODES II and III,
acting as the overseer general to the clones intense training to become
elite soldiers. Shaak has been brilliantly conceived for the animation
format, with a Spanish voice from actress that works well for the
role. Its intriguing to see that the Jedi, caught in the crossfire of the
Clone Wars and seriously undermanned, having to resort to using
Bounty Hunters themselves as part of their training process-which
makes a logical sense-after all, the clones were born from a bounty
hunter-Jango Fett-so to have several of them (including a fun
appearance from a “brainiac” (also known as Brainee) creature and El-
Les (T-head) (both seen as alien races from the first STAR WARS
cantina scene)) involved in their further development should make
them even more efficient in battle. There’s clones aplenty in this tale,
obviously, but special mention should be made to the character of 99,
whom we assume was one of the unsuccessful early clone tests of the
Kaminoans during the secret events born between EPISODEs I and II.
Though he voices all the clones with great skill, Dee Bradley Baker’s
work on bringing the clone who could never be a soldier to life was
well handled (and I hope that Baker eventually gets some more money
for voicing so many characters in one go!).
Watching this episode, fans will surely love the detail that builds on the
Clone Trooper characters and the behind the scenes of their lives in
and out of training on Kamino (great to see the EPISODE II designed,
but previously unseen, barracks, sleeping chambers and indoor battle
testing ground). And I think we’ll be seeing more of Commander Colt –
who looks set to be even more badass than Captain Rex (if that’s
possible!)
AFICIONADO RATING: Perhaps a little underwhelming as the episode

opener, and the plot may not have been exactly original, either, but
CLONE CADETS was nonetheless a solid, subtle beginning to Year
Three-and, as I’m sure it was intended, acts as an intriguing scene
setter prelude to the major events of companion installment, ARC
TROOPERS. Oh, and I liked the nice if obvious in-joke to THX-1138,
too! 3.5 out of 5
EPISODE TWO: ARC TROOPERS
First US transmission (CARTOON NETWORK): 17/9/2010
First UK transmission (SKY MOVIES PREMIERE): 23/10/2010
STORY: When the Republic learns of an impending Separatist attack

on Kamino, Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi hurry to the
planet's defense. Asajj Ventress, General Grievous and an army of
droids rise out of the oceans of Kamino, determined to destroy the
planet's clone production facilities.
NOTE: in a cut scene, just before meeting with Grievous (and probably
created as a set-up for her later line to it: "there's nothing you have
that I could want."), Asajj Ventress spears a Clone trooper (bearing a
skull-helmet pattern) then plants a kiss on him as he’s dying. Despite
Dave Filoni’s attempts to have the quite adult in tone scene saved,
CARTOON NETWORK removed it just prior to the Celebration V
convention, though it looks likely to be included on the full episode for
its eventual Season Three DVD and Blu-ray releases.
REVIEW: Now it’s all kicking off! Another Kamino related adventure-
this time a semi-sequel to ROOKIES instead (with all the toing and
froing in the series, I think its time to have that revised timeline
printed, Mister Filoni!) and absolutely packed with action, all of which
was deftly held, looked stunning. It must be getting harder and harder
for Filoni and his teams to do these planetary invasions without
repeating themselves, especially as the previous years LANDING AT
POINT RAIN seemed to have set the action benchmark, but the much
anticipated and dreamed about invasion of Kamino (which had a great
story from the DARK HORSE years between EPISODEs II and III)
greatly lived up to my personal expectations. The depth and detail
were incredible, not just in the aforementioned action scenes but
throughout the episode in general – facially, you can see more than
ever before that Anakin and Obi-Wan have more detail and character
nuance. Everything is just so much stronger, with fantastic battle
vistas and tremendous use of colour and background detail adding
further atmosphere.
Of the battles themselves, I still need to re-watch certain scenes, but I

loved that terrific swordplay between Anakin and Ventress (and I loved
his Vader-ish moment when he was prepared to let the clone troopers
shoot her to death). Alas the Grievous/ Kenobi fight was all too brief
(though we previously had the GRIEVOUS INTRIGUE duel, set after
this adventure (!) which has not yet been topped by the fighting duo).
And it certainly is a welcome back for General Grievous, and especially
nice to see it working with Ventress, whose absence for all of last year
was much noticed! I found her playful, almost sexual undercurrent
dialogue scenes with Grievous very interesting (technically the first
time they work together onscreen), whilst her general nastiness and
all round sadism (shame about that cut dying clone kiss!) were back in
evidence. And her attempts to retrieve the Jango Fett/Clone sample
were excellent. It was intriguing to see the Kamino storage chamber,
holding other genetic patterns- not just Jango’s but other peoples and
races, too? Perhaps a story idea to be developed another time?
Trying to hold back the enemy advance, the returning clone’s Echo and
Five’s would certainly earn their new stripes in combat (alongside
Daniel Logan’s voices as the clone cadets, who spring a fun surprise on
the Battle Droids!), though we sadly lose poor old 99 - his brave heart
staying loyal and true to his fellow soldiers right to the end! Bless.
The return of the previously under-used EPISODE II Aiwha’s flying in

and out of the sea, linked to a fun underwater James Bond-esque
moment from Obi-Wan, was a delight, and once more the Jedi General
manages to make another friend out of a beast of burden!
Then there were all the great new saga additions, like the enemy Aqua
Troops, plus the re-use of the ship/weaponry Tridents which smash
into Tipocca city (loved the classic submarine depth ping sound effects
prior to their leap from the oceans!) leading to further incredible
imagery-such as the clone vats being destroyed-which lived up to the
epic STAR WARS quality we always love to see, and which ARC
TROOPERS certainly delivered!
AFICIONADO RATING: The script and its well-paced action were put
together with style and lots of inventive flair, in this thrilling tale
destined to be regarded as a classic of the series. 4.5 out 5
EPISODE THREE: SUPPLY LINES
Writer: Steven Melching, Eoghan Mahony
Director: Brian Kalin O’Connel
First US transmission date: 24/9/2010

First UK transmission date: 30/10/2010
NOTE: This episode is set before the events of Season One’s AMBUSH
and its year ending RYLOTH trilogy.
STORY: Ryloth is under siege. Trapped on the surface, Jedi Master Di

rallies the local forces with the help of Cham Syndulla. Desperate to
save them, Senator Bail Organa and Representative Jar Jar Binks are
dispatched to the planet of Toydaria, where they must convince the
King Katuunko to send aid.
REVIEW: Despite the humour of Jar Jar Binks (once more voiced by
the excellent Ahmed Best-great to have you back!)- whether you want
him in the show or not-SUPPLY LINES grim main action plot- focusing
on the trapped Nikto Jedi Master Di and his men, trying to help the
inhabitants of Ryloth against overwhelming Separatist attack-once
again in a prequel to several Season One tales- proved far superior to
the Gungan and Bail Organa’s mission to the Toydaria for supplies
help, and provided a conclusion that was both a sad yet ultimately
hopeful ending, with the character of Di certainly deserving a worthy
place in the annals of the Jedi Order for his courage in battle (well
voiced by Robin Atkin Downes (who also once more plays the returning
Ryloth resistance leader, Cham Syndulla)) though he’s certainly a
character with one of the most unfortunate names ever devised,
deliberately so when the production team planned his final fate!). That
the whole episode could have just concerned Di and his troopers was
obvious, despite what was a visually interesting alternate strand linked
to Organa and Jar Jar’s mission. Toydaria was finally nice to see in the
improved animation, what with the return of King Katuunko (once
more played by Brian George), and equally accompanied by all the
nice shots of Organa’s Blockade Runner (looking great in its new,
closely redesigned to EPISODE IV shape), but the diplomatic mission
there ultimately slowed the plot and pace down at times and ultimately
proved underwhelming, utilizing neither fine STAR WARS characters
effectively enough (and by now, Bail deserves some really meaty stuff
to play with). The appearance of the sly Neimoidian Lok Durd, under
the control of Dooku, however, was well handled, and his arrival in the
plot thankfully helped it along with some much-needed subtle
menace.
AFICIONADO RATING: Not an exceptional episode, but Jedi Master Di

and his clone troopers, along with the overall main Ryloth invasion
action, would provide SUPPLY LINES with its best, and most
memorable, moments. 3 out of 5
EPISODE FOUR: SPHERE OF INFLUENCE
Writer: Katie Lucas, Steven Melching
First US Transmission: 1/10/2010

First UK Transmission: 6/11/2010
NOTE: The entire George Lucas family appears as Pantoran Papanoida

family in this episode, which takes place before the events of Season
Two’s SENATE MURDERS.
STORY: Pantora in peril! The newly elected Chairman of Pantora,

Baron Papanoida, is caught in a deadly political game. The Trade
Federation has blockaded Pantora and suspended all commerce with
the system. Isolated from the rest of the Republic, the people of
Pantora are beginning to rally against the Senate, who have seemed
unsympathetic to their plight.
To make matters worse, Count Dooku has come forward offering aid if
Pantora joins the Separatist alliance. Chairman Papanoida has
dispatched Senator Chuchi to Coruscant with the hope that she can
motivate the Senate to act in favor of Pantora before Lott Dod can
legitimize the blockade....
REVIEW: It was an enjoyable moment at CELEBRATION V when THE

MAIN EVENT conversation showed some great clips of George Lucas’s
return to the STAR WARS universe as the blue skinned Pantoran leader
Baron Papanoida - we always wanted to see George kick some
intergalactic butt, and he did just that- and not just with one blaster
but two! And in a nice western style bar brawl to boot!
From those samples, it looked like the future Season Three episode
would be a fun, probably one-off tale that was just a nice excuse to
celebrate STAR WARS and get to blow away baddies with the
aforementioned big guns! In that sense, SPEHRE OF INFLUENCE
certainly succeeded, with a light, but solid script from Katie Lucas (and
Steven Melching) that was nicely directed and paced. There was
nothing new about the basic kidnap plot but this scenario’s translation
to the STAR WARS universe always works and everything zipped along
nicely enough to its action conclusion, and making good use of many
Classic and Prequel Trilogies locations/environments and characters
(with nice little cameos from the Hutt family on Tatooine). One of the
episodes best touches was the first animated appearance of Greedo-
one of Lucas’s favourite characters anyway, as one of the Pantoran
kidnapers- a nice move after his previous live-action excision from
EPISODE I. As the stars of the main story, all of the Lucas/Pantoran
family were equally well realized in the animation format, though
Corey Burton’s voice for George as the Baron took a lot of getting used
to – I didn’t quite imagine him with that voice after all these years
seeing him interviewed and in person. And it was great to see Senator
Riyo Chuchi, once more voiced by Jennifer Hale, getting more to do
and seeing her character develop nicely- a young politician with some
gusto and bravery. Lets see her again at some point. Alongside
Ahsoka, Chuchi’s part of the mission to find the Baron’s kidnapped
family played well, though if I was a Neimoidian I wouldn’t let anybody
come on to the ship wearing a hood, especially not after the events of
this episode of the or the prior beginning of EPISODE I!
Only one real negative in the episode: who on earth keeps bringing
back Inspector Divo!? He’s hardly the cream of the Coruscant
investigative police force, is he? A truly annoying character vocally and
visually – he really shouldn’t be in the show at all!
AFICIONADO RATING: SPHERE OF INFLUENCE- an overindulgence by

the Lucas family, perhaps? No, it was just a nice bit of fun. Not a
classic by any means, but it proved to be a nice celebration of the
Lucas families loving and enduring commitment to the STAR WARS
saga and its fans. In that function, it certainly succeeded. 3.5 out of 5
EPISODE FIVE: CORRUPTION
Made in Production Order: Season Three, Episode Four
First US transmission: October 8th 2010
First UK transmission: November 13th 2010
STORY: Padmé, on a diplomatic mission to Mandalore, guarantees the

pacifist planet the Republic's full protection, but she and Duchess
Satine soon find something sinister lurking beneath the planet's serene
facade. Moogan smugglers have been sneaking in supplies, including
bottled tea destined for the Mandalorian schools. To increase their
profits, they have been diluting the tea with a hazardous chemical.
REVIEW: Starting off more with a plot more akin to a “we’ve got to
find out where the poison’s coming from” episode of QUINCY than
anything like STAR WARS, CORRUPTION starts weakly on the story-
front, but fortunately ends well with Padme practicing her impressive
blaster skills to take on the baddies (amongst them an interesting
looking race that presumably wandered off the set of THE MUMMY
RETURNS, and wearing ancient headgear that wouldn’t have looked
out of place on the heads of the Colonial Warrior pilots from 1978’s
BATTLESTAR GALACTICA! Perhaps a deliberate homage to that series
by the designers, as well as to the popular seventies history with
UFO’s author Eric Von Daniken). Girl Power is truly the order of the
day with this episode, and it’s nice to see the friendship continue to
evolve between Padme and Satine, who work well together as
characters and as voice actresses.
The animation, as ever, was beautiful (loved the opening arrival

ceremony on Mandalore), but I can’t say this was one of the shows
best. The Padme episodes in general need to be stronger plotted, and
more involving. The character, and actress Catherine Taber, needs
more to get their teeth into.
AFICIONADO RATING: 2.5 out of 5 (primarily for the nicely handled
action finale rather than the actual story).
EPISODE SIX: ACADEMY
Writer: Katie Lucas, Steve Melching
Made in Production Order: Season Two, Episode Twenty Six
First US transmission: 15th October 2010
First UK transmission: 20th November 2010
STORY: Much to her chagrin, Ahsoka Tano is assigned to teach a class

at the cadet academy on Mandalore. Soon after she arrives, however,
some of her students are drawn into a treacherous plot. “The
Academy” find its heroes not among the super-powered Jedi or even
the ranks of the highly-trained clone everymen. Instead, the
protagonists are intrepid youngsters on a principled quest – to uncover
the corruption that is poisoning their homeworld.
REVIEW: Certainly the most younger audience influenced episode of

the season so far, ACADEMY could be described in TV GUIDE as STAR
WARS version of an Enid Blyton style FIVE GO OFF ON AN
ADVENTURE-like mystery tale, but with some great finale kick-ass
action from a much more independent and savvy Ahsoka Tano than
ever before (and a more mature sounding Ashley Eckstein), acting on
her own, and weapon-less, but soon proving a formidable foe when
she takes on the Corrupt Mandalorian Prime Minister (again voiced by
Brit Julian Holloway). As ever, the episode looked great, there were
some nice sound design and the aforementioned action at the end was
exciting and nicely staged. With a little bit of George Lucas’s
personal/moralistic educational thoughts thrown into the mix - on how
we should try to avoid being corrupted, think for ourselves and be
better people working for our community- Ahsoka’s early teaching
scenes felt a little forced at the start script wise, but the story
improved as it went along. And, thankfully, the Mandalorian
pupil/detectives were okay and not as irritating as they could have
been.
Described by STAR WARS.COM as “delving ever deeper into the

dysfunctional social mechanics of Mandalore”, I’m afraid to say that
ACADEMYs story/plotline, continuing to expand and develop the prior
Season Two concept of a world on the brink of revolution, didn’t really
prove all that interesting to me. Like the previous Trilogy, it was okay
episode, brightened by Ahsoka, but, as with my occasional critical bug-
bear, ACADEMY was still not STAR WARS’y enough.
AFICIONADO RATING: Has academia gone too far this season? 3 out
of 5
EPISODE SEVEN: ASSASSIN
Writer: Katie Lucas
NOTES: This episode is set after the events of Season Two’s LETHAL
TRACKDOWN but before the events of Season One’s HOSTAGE CRISIS.
STORY: Tasked to protect Senator Padmé Amidala during a political

mission to Alderaan, Padawan Ahsoka Tano is plagued by recurring
visions of recently deceased bounty hunter, Aurra Sing. Unable to clear
her mind, Ahsoka worries that the stress of conflict is finally getting to
her until her visions indeed prove prophetic. Padmé narrowly avoids
death when Aurra Sing attempts to assassinate her. Together, Padmé
and Ahsoka trap the hunter, and Ahsoka discovers the true villain
behind the plot to kill Padmé: the incarcerated gangster, Ziro the Hutt.
REVIEW: Getting back on the right track after two weakish episodes,
ASSASIN was a very enjoyable story, nicely plotted and written by
Katie Lucas, nicely developing Ahsoka’s character after the events of
THE ACADEMY (despite the fact that this tale is set before it and
causes some mild continuity problems- shouldn’t she still be like she
was at the start of Season One?!!), where we she her growing up a bit
more, with some neat character touches between her and Padme, as
well as keeping those popular flourishes/nostalgic references/moments
from previous STAR WARS movies alive and well in the series, like the
Dark Side influenced Force predictions and nightmares that these
younger Jedi seem to have a lot these days. Talking about nostalgia, it
was visually great to see a little bit more of the iconic world of
Alderaan (accompanied by a nice intermixing of by composer Kilner of
both his own themes for the TV series and John Williams beloved
ones-loved hearing Princess Leia’s beautiful score again) and I eagerly
await another story set on that world in the near future..
And then, by episodes end, it was Aurra vs Ahsoka-the re-match! Not

caught out by Captain Typho and the Betty droid disguised as Padme
(a nice nettle nod to the Prequel films), it was cool to see Jaime King’s
strongly voiced villain back in skilled action (nice make-up reference to
the Replicant Pris from BLADERUNNER, too!) and it was quite a cool
scene when she injured Ahsoka with a blaster shot. Now that she’s
been captured, just how is Sing going to get out of prison to come
back and help Cad Bane free Ziro in Season One! Confused?! Almost,
but STARWARS.COM, to their credit, did at least put up a guide to the
timeline in their episode guide for this adventure.
AFICIONADO RATING: You can’t go wrong story-wise when you have a

great baddie to fight. 4 out of 5
EPISODE EIGHT: EVIL PLANS
Writer: Steve Melching and Craig Van Sickle
First US transmission: 5/11/2010

First UK transmission: 4/12/2010
NOTES: This story is set after the events of HOLOCRON HEIST and
before the events of Season One’s HOSTAGE CRISIS and Season Two’s
SENATE MURDERS.
A new version of Cad Bane’s droid assistant Todo appears in this

episode. According to STAR WARS.COM: “(This episode) takes place
some time after HOLOCRON HEIST which saw the destruction of Todo
360. Todo was rebuilt off-screen by Anakin Skywalker after the
episode CHILDREN OF THE FORCE in an attempt by the Jedi to learn
more about Bane and his whereabouts. The plan goes wrong and Todo
escapes. The episode immediately after this one is HOSTAGE CRISIS”
STORY: In the middle of a routine shopping trip on Coruscant, C-3PO

is abducted by the bounty hunter Cad Bane. Bane is looking for
information about the Senate building on behalf of Jabba the Hutt.
Finding C-3PO devoid of useful information, Bane and his accomplices
kidnap R2-D2 and extract the vital data, before memory wiping the
droids of the incident, and letting them on their way. The floor-plans
and security details of the Senate building are part of a plot
engineered by the Hutt families to free their imprisoned brother, Ziro
the Hutt, who holds potentially damaging information about Hutt
activities.
REVIEW: A fun little family friendly tale nicely balanced with signs and
portents of serious things to come on the action adventure front with
the Hutt clans (nice to see all the different beasties and their visual
homages to Coppola’s THE GOFDFATHER characters!), Jedi and that
hat wearing baddie Cad Bane, whilst also acting as a neat little
continuance to the events of the Season One finale HOSTAGE CRISIS.
Protocol droid, poor negotiator and mindless of crucial information,

See-Threepio may be a hinder to Cad Banes overall plans (though the
Bounty Hunter gets what he wants in the end!), but it was nice to see
STAR WARS favourite golden rod back in servant mode (with an
intriguing little section linked to Padme Amidala’s life as a senator, and
all the diplomatic duties and responsibilities that entail) and equally
great to have Anthony Daniels back for a more substantial role,
especially alongside Artoo (yayy!), for his mostly centre stage episode
that successfully pulled on the nostalgia heartstrings that we have for
the droids from the past, in the kind of story and style that wouldn’t
have been out of place, if better animated now, in their previous
DROIDS series from the eighties.
On the Dark Side of my thoughts, I still don’t like Todo, be it a new

version or not, voiced by Seth Green, though on the rest of the droid
front I thought the sequence set in the Droid spa was good fun-nice to
see Artoo get a bit of relaxing quality time after numerous perilous
adventures in Seasons One and Two. And I loved those pink Spa
droids-very cute!
And so, as the light hearted tale ends, the scene setting for future
episodes kick in- we see Cad Bane eventually getting the information
he wants (and welcome back to that excellent cool hat attired Bounty
Hunter-it’s been a long time since CHILDREN OF THE FORCE!)- the
plot thickens, and just what secret and damaging info does Ziro te
Hutt have on his fellow creatures?
AFICIONADO RATING: Probably not an episode I’ll watch again and

again, but it was still a fun little tale that hit the right mark for the
younger fans. 3 out of 5
EPISODE NINE: HUNT FOR ZIRO
Writer: Steve Mitchell & Craig Van Sickle
Made in Production Order: Season Three, Episode Five
FIRST US TRANSMISSION: 12/10/2010
FIRST UK TRANSMISSION: 11/12/2010
STORY: Cad Bane has broken Ziro the Hutt out of prison and the Hutt
Council demands that Ziro tell them where he's hidden vital -- and
incriminating -- information: a journal detailing the criminal activities
of the five Hutt families. Ziro makes another daring escape with the
help of his estranged (and strange) lover, Sy Snootles. Bane is back
on the Hutt's trail -- but he's not the only one. The Jedi Obi-Wan
Kenobi and Quinlan Vos need to find him too.
A chase through the swamps of Nal Hutta leads the pursuers to Ziro's
enormous mother, Mama the Hutt, who points them to the direction of
Teth. It is here, in the secret grave of Ziro's father, that the fugitive
Hutt has hidden the diary. When he retrieves it, Snooty reveals her
true spots. She's a deadly woman scorned and a bounty hunter for
hire. She kills Ziro, and returns the journal to her client: Jabba the
Hutt.
REVIEW: Hell hath no fury like a Snootles scorned, as Ziro the Hutt
finds out with his life by the end of this episode. Snootles, in her
femme fatale love affair, worked brilliantly in the animated medium
(loved the TEMPLEOF DOOMinspired musical number) and was well
voiced by Asajj Ventress actress Nika Futterman. Their clever
machinations foiled, the Hutt clans re-appearance proved to be as
disgusting as ever, which was great, but I didn’t like to see the
realization of Ziro’s mother-that was just a little too gross out for me,
though thumbs up the designers for the planetary vistas of Nal Hutta
and its murky swamp scenes, and then a fast paced and exciting
return to the hostile mountain/jungle wilderness of Teth, previously
seen in the first CLONE WARS movie.
In an episode chock full of great moments, Quinlan Vos first

appearance in the series also got the character off to a fine start in the
new medium, and his much anticipated arrival didn’t let his fans down.
Right from the start he proved to be a much different, perhaps more
viewer accessible, Jedi than we’re used to, with the kind of rogue
elements that wouldn’t have looked out of place with Han Solo rather
than a Jedi. From that aforementioned fun introduction (leaping out of
a Republic craft before it touches down) to his instinct led
confrontation with the Hutt’s, we see he’s not quite the patient
negotiator that Obi-Wan is, and works as a fine chalk and cheese
variation to “The Negotiator.” I look forward to seeing Vos again in the
not too distant future.
And as the story reached its totally satisfying, fast paced conclusion,
how can I not mention the tremendous mountain leaping chase/fight
by the Jedi duo against Bane (with his annoying droid chum Todo). It
was great to see the Bounty Hunter finally in fighting mode – the kind
of action scene I always wanted to see Boba Fett partake in within the
Classic Trilogy. He may not have the Jedi’s superior powers, but Bane
more than holds his own (fighting Kenobi with a lightsaber and then
electrifying him!), proving once again what a tricky and slippery
adversary he is, full of cunning and guile and with lots of nefarious
tricks located in all areas about his person.
AFICIONADO RATING: Another classic episode. 4.5 out of 5
EPISODE TEN: HEROES ON BOTH SIDES
Writer: Daniel Arkin
Made in Production Order: Season Three, Episode Six
FIRST US TRANSMISSION: November 19th 2010
FIRST UK TRANSMISSION: December 18th 2010
NOTE: this episode is set before the events of Season Two’s SENATE
MURDERS, turning this and THE PURSUIT OF PEACE into a trilogy. This
episode was originally titled “THE BANKING CONSPIRACY". In the UK,
SKY takes a Christmas break with this episode and resumes the series
run in January 2011.
STORY: When the Senate begins debating a bill that would eliminate
government oversight of the Banking Clan's activities in order to fund
the war, Padmé and Ahsoka travel in secret to the capital of the
Confederacy of Independent Systems. Amidala attempts to forge a
peace agreement with the Separatists, while Ahsoka sees, for the first
time, the people of the Confederacy. Padmé's friend, Mina Bonteri,
spearheads the peace initiative, and convinces the Separatist Congress
to sue for peace.
Meanwhile, on Coruscant, Senators Lott Dod and Gume Saam conspire

with Banking Clan representative Nix Card and Count Dooku to make
the banking deregulation a reality. At Dooku's command, General
Grievous engineers an attack at the central power distribution grid on
Coruscant, carried out by Separatist demolition droids. The chaos and
panic spreads to the Senate, which vehemently rejects the Separatist
peace initiative, and votes instead to deregulate the Banking Clan.
REVIEW: Darth Sidious perfect manipulation and control of the

Separatists and the Republic, through the ambitious, power hungry
Count Dooku for the former and the always good intentioned Padme
Amidala on the latter is never more exemplary highlighted than in this
intriguing and quite adult episode, with more than a passing nod to the
not always in our best interests political machinations of today’s world
leaders (remember how Palpatine had more than a passing nod to
President Nixon (later President George Bush) when Lucas was
working on the original STAR WARS way back in 1983 and 2005),
where such machinations from our leaders, plus the widespread greed
and corruption inherent within the entire story structure of the Prequel
movie saga, are finally shown to be a strength for drama and story
incident when done right rather than previously being seen as tedium,
and all capped off with a great sequence showing the bombing of the
once indestructible Coruscant’s key life-sustaining installations by
some very cool looking stealth Transformer-like droids in an exciting
doom-laden no hope finale which sends any chance of peace between
the two galaxy fighting fractions coming to a shattering close.
The “There are heroes on both sides. Evil is everywhere” bent of the
distinctive EPISODE III opening title crawl finally gets some
explanation in this episode, as the animated series starts to evolve
towards that particular movie with this very intelligently written and
well handled script from Daniel Arkin. Intriguingly, even with the
barest minimum of violence at the stories ending, this was quite a dark
and disturbing episode for what is basically a family audience series,
showing how people can be manipulated for evil means, and I applaud
these continuing moves, presumably by Lucas and company as an
educational tool in how not to lose ones individuality and to fight
against the system if it becomes corrupted, as the animated series
moves ever nearer the grim hopelessness of ORDER 66 and the
ultimate birth of the Galactic Empire.
Embedded into the changing series, some of our main characters also
got a visual tune-up: I personally liked the new visual look for Anakin
and the maturing Ahsoka, and look forward to seeing the new Obi-Wan
and Padme at some point, too. And let’s also not forget the cool new
wardrobe for Palpatine, even wearing a deleted scene EPISODE III
outfit, too!
AFICIONADO RATING: An impressive episode that hopefully looks set
to see in a stark and more serious shift in the shows evolution in 2011.
4.5 out of 5
EPISODE ELEVEN: PURSUIT OF PEACE
Director: Duwayne Dunham
Made in Production Order: Season Three, Episode 7
FIRST US TRANSMISSION: December 3rd 2010
FIRST UK TRANSMISSION: January 8th 2011
STORY: Padmé, Bail Organa and Onaconda Farr attempt to rally

Senators in opposition to a bill that would appropriate funds for
millions of new clone troops and have disastrous financial
consequences for the Republic. Their opposition to the measure,
however, soon makes them targets for intimidation and attacks by
hired guns. After escaping two hired thugs -- Chata Hyoki and
Robonino -- in a harrowing speeder bike chase, Padmé, is able to sway
the Senate with a stirring account of how the war has affected an
everyday civilian, her handmaiden Teckla Minnau.
NOTE: After a three-week break, the series resumes on the UK’s SKY
MOVIES PREMIERE and HD with this episode, which is the second part
of a trilogy, with the earlier Season Two’s SENATE MURDERS being the
wrap-up.
REVIEW: A fine continuance from the previous episodes political

drama, as Coruscant remains in darkness and the Senate takes its
critical voting on the ordering of additional Clone soldiers even if
means destabilizing the infrastructure of the Republic and totally
bankrupting it. Catherine Taber has some fine dialogue and scenes to
work with as Padme, with a notably impressive and impassioned
speech in the episodes finale which is nicely written and realized by
writer Daniel Arkin. It’s also nice to have a handmaiden (Teckla
Minnau) finally make it into in the series, and in an important
sequence that generally makes up for their overall absence from
EPISODE III, as her background and family life proves integral to her
Mistresses final speech. And outside of the political debate, there’s still
time for action, too! We already know the Naboo Senator is a woman
of many fine talents, and now we can add speeder bike flying to her
resume. Like Mother like Daughter, eh?
Padme’s political heavyweight colleague, Ian Abercombie as Palpatine,

also builds on his work on the earlier episode and provides the final
delicious, and duplicitous, icing on the gloomy dramatic cake in this
very rewarding tale that once more touches on today’s current events:
the dangers of the banks and their un-regulated, un-checked ways
over the last two years, and the toll that war brings to our real life
world’s countries whom send out their brave men and women to fight
for peace. These two strands prove their worth as allegorical focus
points in the animated series on which to build strong stories. It’s also
backed up with some very nice direction and angles, too, from ex-
editor, TWIN PEAKS director and friend to Lucas, Duwayne Dunham.
Let’s hope he gets to do more episodes. And, continuing the more
adult take the series is heading down - and notice how 2011 has the
show return in a new later time-slot (which possibly reflect this)- its
not often you see knife (albeit thickened to make it less threatening)
wielding aliens in STAR WARS, a stand out in the more fantastical
world of lightsabers and blasters. Perhaps a one off visual decision,
such modern life weapons prove very noticeable in a family animated
series.
So, as an effective bridge leading into SENATE MURDERS, and an

excellent conclusion to HEROES ON BOTH SIDES, too, PURSUIT OF
PEACE ends the seasons first half on a very high quality note.
AFICIONADO RATING: 3.5 out 5
EPISODE TWELVE: NIGHTSISTERS
Writer: Katie Lucas

FIRST US TRANSMISSION: January 7th 2011
FIRST UK TRANSMISSION: January 15th 2011
STORY: Troubled by Asajj Ventress' growing prowess with the dark

side of the Force, Darth Sidious commands Count Dooku to eliminate
her. But Ventress survives Dooku's assassination attempt, and the
jilted former apprentice vows to take revenge, enlisting the aid of her
kinswomen -- the mystical Nightsisters -- in her sinister scheme.
Mother Talzin, leader of the Nightsisters, veils Asajj and her fellow
assassins in a cloak of invisibility, and they infiltrate Dooku's palace on
Serenno. Though they fail to kill the Count, their use of captured Jedi
lightsabers leads Dooku to mistakenly believe that the Jedi have tried
to kill him. Interested in protection, he requests a new apprentice from
Mother Talzin.
REVIEW: Matters of Life and Death. Starting at a breakneck speed and

never stopping until its closing moments, NIGHTSISTERS sees this
third season of the CLONE WARS finally hitting its stride. Confident,
bold and exciting in all areas of its storytelling, the action and
excitement never flag, virtually exposition free, and leading into the
start of a new cycle of dark intrigue for the show as it continues to
surge at a good pace into the events of EPISODE III. There’s some
incredible cinematography in this episode, which the improved
animation shows off brilliantly. The opening space battle (great to see
Ventress’s CLONE WARS micro series ship back in the series) and the
lightsaber duel between her, Anakin, and Obi were quite simply
awesome and the growing powers of the Sith apprentice, despite her
crashland injuries, certainly do show: how about that amazing moment
where she Force strangles both her Jedi attackers and the incredibly
dexterous moves she shows against them in the destructing vessels
landing bay. Once again, I’m sure there were moves in that fight that
Prequel Stunt co-ordinator Nick Gillard would have been very
impressed with. Following on from that, and Dooku’s wish, under
orders from a very angry Darth Sidious, to have he dead, the plotline
linked to the Nightsisters of Dathomir worked very well-first introduced
way back in the COURTSHIP OF PRONCESS LEIA novel a long time
ago, though their appearance may once more have the EU purists
worked up a bit, especially in the intriguing dreamscape origin story of
their daughter Ventress as she’s being healed from her injuries.
After the mysticism we return to the action, and the episodes great
finale rounding it out, partially shown in prior clips at CELEBRATION V,
with an equally strong as the opener lightsaber duel, where Ventress
and the cream of her assassin sisters travel to Dooku’s estate/lair on
Serenno (again, nice to finally to see this much mentioned world of the
books) to take him out. Again, brilliantly handled-and great to see the
Count finally in some more blade action- and fighting in his pyjamas,
too! – we hadn’t really seen much of his flashy but vicious technique
since the pilot movie. Despite the action, though, the basic story
seems slightly flawed to me: surely Dooku must suspect that the
Assassins were not Jedi-as an ex member of that noble order himself,
he would know that the Jedi, no matter how desperate, would not
resort to assassination techniques. That would make them no better
than the Sith. Looking at it in that respect, this part of the plot,
initiated so as to get Dooku to secure his new apprentice, slightly
rankles, but I’m more than willing to let it go for the sake of a strong
overall tale, which NIGHTSISTERS clearly showed.
AFICIONADO RATING: The best standout episode since THE HUNT FOR
ZIRO, and before that ARC TROOPERS. The shows production team are
clearly having a creative ball here bringing episodes of this caliber to
life (they even chucked in a fun little reference to their once enemy TV
series, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, with the Tactical Droids “By your
command!” line! Does this mean that, with time, George Lucas has
softened in his attitudes towards his 1978 competitor?), alongside a
fine script (the first of a trilogy) from Katie Lucas. And, with all this
excitement, we haven’t even seen Savage Opress yet… 5 out of 5
EPISODE THIRTEEN: MONSTER
Writer: Katie Lucas
First US transmission: January 14th 2011

First UK transmission: January 22nd 2011
Made in Production Order: Season Three, Episode 10
STORY: When Count Dooku calls upon the Nightsisters seeking a

replacement for Ventress, she and her kin seize the opportunity to
exact revenge. Ventress visits the far side of Dathomir and the males
of the planet seeking the most brutal and powerful warrior among
them. Talzin has Asajj secretly select a warrior from the distant
Nightbrother village: Savage Opress. With the power of dark magic,
Talzin transforms Savage into a hulking warrior ultimately loyal to
Asajj. She then delivers Opress to Dooku, where he will serve as his
secret Sith apprentice in a plot to overthrow Darth Sidious.
REVIEW: And so, the series most eagerly awaited episode run
continues with the introduction of the new Sith Apprentice, the fierce
horned headed, body tattooed assassin Savage Opress. With a long
career in animated series voice over work, especially memorable in the
WARNER BROTHERS BATMAN series of the mid to late nineties, Clancy
Brown proves a fine choice to play the intelligent alien selectee turned
brutish monster, and its interesting how the character starts off as a
strong, intelligent and protective type to his weaker, more demanding,
egotistical brother Feral-who should have been the ideal choice if he
hadn’t proved so weak-then ultimately killing him when Savage soon
proves the more adept choice, transformed into a servile and powerful
new force for evil via witchcraft and mental manipulation, and quickly
cementing his reputation as a dedicated servant of death and
destruction, the plaything of the Nightsisters and Ventress’s
assassination plot, and launching him as a firm new favourite
character in THE CLONE WARS series universe.
Interestingly, with the Force explained as an energy field created by all

livjng things through the focusing point of the symbiotic Midi-chlorians
(as established in the Prequels), where do the intriguing powers of the
Nightsisters factor into all this? They are clearly able to create matter
from energy, but how is their power defined, and is it from a source
other than the Force? This new aspect of the STAR WARS saga-
utilizing the kind of magic that would make Merlin proud- makes
Lucas’s universe perhaps even more fairy tale like and fascinating.
Which is a good thing in my book.
And then there’s Ventress. Her hatred of all men, even in alien form,
knows no bounds, and she’s more malicious and blood-thirsty than
ever as her revenge plot against the nefarious Count enters its first
calculating phase. Building nicely on the events of her prior episode,
there’s a great opportunity for Katie Lucas to have fun writing
dangerous scenes and dialogue with the character and really unleash
her as the ultimate bitch of the STAR WARS saga (at least so far!). The
cinematography, direction and pace accompanying her story and her
chosen one, as usual in this season second half, were excellent.
And Savage’s introduction proper with the killing of the two Jedi
(backed up with its great doom-laden choir music from Kevin Kiner)
delivers an effective closure to the episode and promises both complex
machinations and further brutal action to come…
AFICIONADO RATING: A slice and dicing 4.5 out of 5.
EPISODE FOURTEEN: WITCHES OF THE MIST
Writer: Katie Lucas
Made in Production Order: Season Three, Episode Twelve
First US transmission: January 21st 2011
First UK transmission: January 29th 2011
STORY: Anakin and Obi-Wan, sent to track down the mysterious figure
behind the deaths of several Jedi, soon find themselves on the trail of
the monstrous apprentice that Ventress has created: Savage Opress,
who has been trained in the ways of the Sith by Dooku.
Dooku sends Opress to Toydaria to capture King Katuunko. The

monstrous apprentice clashes with the Jedi, and in the course of the
battle he kills the king. Opress returns to Dooku's flagship having
failed his Master. It is then that Ventress strikes, with Opress at her
side, against Dooku. A three-way battle for dark side supremacy ends
with Dooku triumphant, Ventress fleeing, and a disillusioned Savage
abandoning his loyalties to the Sith. He returns to Mother Talzin, who
gives him a new task. To seek the Outer Rim for his long-lost
brother....
REVIEW: The tone of the episode gets off to a great start with
Coruscant’s grey and rainy skies (and featuring a cool little cameo of
the Delta Squad Clone Commandos from the popular video game-a
great influence on Dave Flioni’s vision for the animated series)
indicating a bad time all round coming up for the Jedi (though its great
to see Anakin and Obi-Wan back in action as a duo- with some good
moments when they’re on Dathomir. They’ve been away or apart from
us for too long in the series), whilst Savage Opress, beaten severely
by Count Dooku into his training to become a Sith Lord (a similar, but
far more excruciating ordeal to the one undergone by Luke with Yoda
in EMPIRE), sets off and ultimately fails on his first real mission (which
showed an intriguing symmetry in that the series returns to Toydaria
and its writers then bravely kill off King Katuunko. Putting up a good
fight, I found the noble King’s death a shock, and also a bit of a
shame, though I think we’ll have to expect and get used to more
supporting character demises in the seasons to come as we reach the
critical EPISODE III).
A pawn of Ventress and the Nightsisters, and happily used by Dooku

prior to Toydaria as a Jedi killing machine, I actually did feel a little
sad for the used and abused figure of Opress but certainly not when he
rebelled against his masters and went into full fighting mode, a
tremendous adversary for the Jedi and Sith to face (loved that scene
when he Force-choked both Dooku and Ventress!). The differing duels
alternating the second half were superbly done. And Savage’s powers
continued to prove awesome, especially the way he managed to repel
and hold off Anakin and Obi-Wan several times. The Ventress versus
Dooku ending re-match duel was also super, full of relentless fast
paced action, great camerawork and constant movement, making it
quite exhilarating in places. One fact remains consistent in the series,
though: whoever wins, Battle Droids suffer!
I’m glad that Opress wasn’t killed off in this story as there is lots of
potential for the future before they ultimately have to do away with
him before the events of EPISODE III. And now he’s on a quest given
to him by Mother Talzin. A quest for a certain member of his race who
was once a Sith Lord.
So, to Darth Maul. Is he really alive? Did the Nightsisters somehow

retrieve his body and put it back together? The idea of him in
animated form fighting alongside his brother Savage sounds intriguing,
but is it really a good idea? His not being dead robs Ewan McGregor’s
Obi-Wan and THE PHANTOM MENACE of its triumphant and exciting
impact when Obi finally takes out and kills the Sith apprentice. Does
this now mean any STAR WARS character previously dead and not a
Jedi can come back and be resurrected? Was Darth Maul a clone of the
real Maul, part of a Sith plan before the initiation of the creation of the
Clone army? If TPM’s Maul does indeed turn out to be a clone, doesn’t
this rob the character of his uniqueness? And doesn’t this also affect
continuity for EPISODE III? I don’t mind the Expanded Universe being
changed (as seen in this episode’s beginning with the exposition from
the Jedi about Maul’s race being on Dathomir), but when the rules may
contradict the already established and official movie universe, well,
then I worry! Why doesn’t Anakin, who is aware of the Nightsisters
and their strange powers, just go to them and force their help in
finding a way to stop Padme from dying. I’m intrigued to see how this
all develops (it may be a ruse for the Nightsisters just to get Savage
away from them) but I hope that such a move by the shows creative
team doesn’t backfire and shatter the live action STAR WARS universe
too much…
AFICIONADO RATING: A stunning episode and a stunning finale by

Katie Lucas to this excellent trilogy, which I’m sure satisfied all its
viewers. Kudos to the cast and crew of THE CLONE WARS on this one.
Successfully making the most of triple baddies, the STAR WARS
universe is getting even more choc a block full of villains, which is
exactly what the production team wanted so as to avoid repetition.
Now, how about one big almighty three-parter in which every baddie
(Dooku, Bane, Ventress, Opress, Grievous, etc) joins forces to take on
the Jedi!
The series subtitle of SECRETS REVEALED is now starting to become

worthwhile and the stories will no doubt continue their high quality
consistency with the next three parter involving the Chosen One
prophecy, plus future plots for Ahsoka and Captain Rex rounding out
the season. No question about it, this episode deserves its Force
lightning packed 5 out of 5 (and then some).
EPISODE FIFTEEN: OVERLORDS
Writer: Christian Taylor

Made in Production Order: Season Three, Episode Nine.
First US transmission: 28th January 2011
First UK transmission: 5th February 2011
STORY: A mysterious force draws Anakin, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka to a

distant planet, and its inhabitants -- a family of exceptionally powerful
Force-wielders -- in an attempt to determine whether Anakin is truly
the Chosen One. The patriarch of this family, known only as the
Father, has spent ages maintaining the balance between his Daughter,
who is strong with the light side of the Force, and his Son, who aligns
with the dark. The Father reveals his days are numbered, and he
seeks Anakin to take his place as the fulcrum of this balance. A series
of tests proves that Anakin is capable of controlling both offspring, as
the Father does, but Skywalker refuses to take the Father's place.
REVIEW: Mysteries and prophecies and signs and portents abound in

this intriguing story uniquely blending STAR WARS Classic and Prequel
elements linked to the path and passage of the prophecy of the
Chosen One: Anakin Skywalker. Respected TV writer Christian Taylor,
well known for his work on the HBO series SIX FEET UNDER, brings
some interesting new perspectives and intriguing story possibilities
(the idea of a planetoid that’s a Force conduit was especially
noteworthy) to the STAR WARS universe, and weaves a memorable
tale that’s absolutely perfect for the animated rather than live action
medium.
Amongst all the talk of the Force, prophecies and unusual powers, it
was great to have some of the STAR WARS Prequel actors returning to
voice their popular roles, adding further respectability and official-ness
to the animated series. Pernilla August as Shmi Skywalker was a much
welcome treat in a very nice scene with Anakin, as was the brief
appearance of Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn. Our main cast Jedi trio
gets some fine moments as they encounter their Force spirits, from
the past or the future. It was intriguing to see the future Ahsoka,
whatever her ultimate fate may be, whilst James Arnold Taylor is now
making Obi’s voice a little older sounding to match Sir Alec Guinness
as well as Ewan McGregor, and the results are commendable.
THE FORCE UNLEASHED guest voice cast of Sam Witwer and Adrienne
Wilkinson, respectively as the Dark and Light sides of the Force,
alongside their balancing ruler, Father, played by Lloyd Sher, proved
interesting new characters, too, whilst their alien homeworld Mortis,
with its shades of AVATAR environments in the sky proved another fine
addition to the ranks of intriguing STAR WARS planets and locations.
And so, as Anakin turns his back on the balance of the Force in this
intriguing new twist on the prophecy, what further important and
cataclysmic events leading up to the revenge of the Sith can we expect
next?
AFICIONADO RATING: Contrasting nicely with the prior action-packed

Opress Trilogy, this looks like the start of a more mature, truly unique
animation experience for the STAR WARS universe, with the caliber of
the concept providing STAR WARS with a different kind of fantasy-like
environment, showing the Jedi against clashing God-like users of the
Force, giving Lucas’s saga and characters an intriguing new spin, and
making it a sure stand out for fans young and old. 4.5 out of 5.
EPISODE SIXTEEN: ALTAR OF MORTIS
MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: Season Three, Episode Eleven
First US transmission: 4th February 2011
First UK transmission: 12th February 2011
STORY: Before the Jedi can leave Mortis, the Son takes Ahsoka captive
in an attempt to entice Anakin into joining him to use their combined
strength to overpower his Father and Sister. To this end, the Son casts
Ahsoka under the spell of the dark side.
Meanwhile, the Father attempts to stave off a disastrous showdown

between his children and maintain the Force's increasingly precarious
balance on the planet. Fearing that the Son may be unstoppable, the
Daughter does the forbidden by taking Obi-Wan Kenobi to the Altar of
Mortis, wherein is kept the Dagger of Mortis, a weapon capable of
killing a Force-wielder. The Son steals the weapon, and attempts to
use it against his Father to steal his power and end his rule, but the
Daughter sacrifices herself, placing herself in front of the blade.
REVIEW: THE CLONE WARS delving into the side of fantasy continues.
It’s very much a case of (Force) Gods and Monsters, Angels and
Demons, or a clash of the titans, with a little bit of King Arthur and the
Excalibur legend thrown in, as the balance of the Force on Mortis is
decided, and where destiny will ultimately influence the state of the
universe outside of it, in this intriguing, continued foray into the purest
form of the battle between good and evil yet, in a way that I think
Joseph Campbell would have approved. There’s not a lot of originality
on display in this episode, and some locations looked a little too like
the universe conceived by Peter Jackson’s movie versions of Tolkien’s
LORD OF THE RINGS, but it plays effectively nonetheless and Christian
Taylor’s script makes fine use of its key players, as well as showing his
obvious love of fantasy in general and understanding how to write for
both it and STAR WARS as a whole. As darkness takes over Mortis,
The Son proves itself a stand out enemy for the animated series, well
voiced by Sam Witwer as the characters continued unique skills within
the Dark Side grow stronger. I liked the actors incorporation/
impression of IanMcDiarmid as Palpatine, his dialogue laced with the
sardonic and poisonous evil that could only belong to the Sith. And
where would evil be without its disciples, as Ahsoka Tano soon proves
when she’s possessed into fighting her Master. From the way her
transformation was shown in trailers and publicity, what we ultimately
got was less than anticipated but who didn’t, deep down, think it
wouldn’t all just be a big tease for something hopefully more dramatic
and powerful story-wise further down the line. Her two lightsabers
duel against Anakin, and later Anakin and Obi-Wan, was good if a little
brief, and I bet Ashley Eckstein enjoyed the challenge of going bad,
even making Ahsoka’s voice sound at times satisfying like the kind
you’d associate with an elderly and embittered witch from SNOW
WHITE or a Hans Christian Anderson tale!
AFICIONADO RATING: ALTAR OF MORTIS wasn’t quite as mysterious

and intriguing as the previous episode, ultimately a more
straightforward fantasy foray in which the popular STAR WARS
elements, outside of their normal established universe, just about
worked within it. I get the feeling that OVERLORDS may have been a
singular tale but was expanded into three parts. As a second part,
ALTAR did its job well enough, though, and ultimately deserves its 4
out of 5
EPISODE EIGHTEEN: THE CITADEL
Writer: Matt Michnovetz
MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: Season Three, Episode Fourteen
STORY: With help from R2-D2 and a squad of captured battle droids,
an elite team of Jedi and clone troopers led by Obi-Wan and Anakin
attempt to free a captive Jedi general, Even Piell, from an
impenetrable prison. Despite orders to the contrary, Ahsoka Tano tags
along, though she proves indispensable when the infiltration mission
begins to evolve. Piell and his fleet officer, Captain Tarkin, as liberated
from their cells, but now the fugitives must escape the Citadel itself.
EPISODE NINETEEN: COUNTERATTACK

MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: Season Three, Episode Fifteen
First US Transmission: 4th March 2010
First UK Transmission: 5th March 2010
STORY: With freed prisoners in their possession and the brutal warden
attempting desperately to thwart them, Obi-Wan and Anakin search
for a way out of the Citadel and back to Coruscant. The prison,
however, has more traps, perils and pitfalls in store for them than they
had imagined and they must work past their differences if they are to
escape. Their bid to board their shuttle fails when heavy weapons fire
destroys the escape craft. Trooper Echo dies in the blast. The escapees
then flee to the caves and call for rescue from the Jedi Temple on
Coruscant.
EPISODE TWENTY: CITADEL RESCUE

MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: Season Three, Episode Seventeen
First US transmission: March 11th 2011
First UK transmission: March 12th 2011
STORY: After their ship and only way off the planet is destroyed,
Anakin and Obi-Wan must lead the escaped prisoners across Lola
Sayu's perilous landscape as Plo Koon commands a task force of four
cruisers and their fighters through the Separatist defences in a daring
rescue. Even Piell is ravaged by anooba tracking beasts, but before he
dies, he passes on his Nexus Routes coordinates to Ahsoka. When the
survivors return to Coruscant, Ahsoka knows half the intel, and refuses
to disclose it to anyone but the Jedi Council, while Tarkin refuses to
hand over his half to anyone other than the Chancellor.
OVERALL TRILOGY REVIEW: With a story that’s obviously an in places

homage to great sixties adventure films like WHERE EAGLES DARE and
THE GUNS OF NAVARONE, and with a cunning Christopher Walken
sounding quirky alien, Osi Sobek, nicely voiced by James Arnold
Taylor, thrown in for good measure, who couldn’t resist the pure
pleasure of watching THE CITADEL Trilogy?
It was back to the familiar, and much loved STAR WARS heroics we
know and love, and then some!, in this fast paced tale that gave us
the kind of pure and unadulterated action and adventure we want and
thrill to from our favourite Jedi heroes, mixed with a hint of Classic
Trilogy swashbuckling elements guaranteed to make us want to shake
the air with pride. The secret rescue attempt/storming of an
impregnable Citadel, specifically designed in the old times to house
Jedi that had gone bad, was a wonderful celebration of the Classic
Trilogy’s daring plans initiated by the Rebels, and most notable with
the opening parts lovely nod to EMPIRE detailing just how Anakin/later
Vader became familiar with the idea of carbon freezing - a concept in
this episode that proved to not just be a successful get-the-fans-
enthused gimmick but proved to be an important part of the story as
well (it was so good they’d also used the concept in an earlier tale by
Henry Gilroy for one of his CLONE WARS comics).
Adding to the classic celebrations was the inclusion of the ambitious

and very creepy Captain Tarkin, and what will be his unique
relationship to Anakin Skywalker, later Darth Vader. The Grand Moff-
to-be was certainly well written and catered for in the story, quickly
cementing a strong relationship with Anakin and an antagonistic one
with the determined Ahsoka by the story’s conclusion, whilst his
animated visage was equally spot on with Peter Cushing, but Steven
Stanton’s voice didn’t quite capture the actors previous steely
underlying menace as I’d hoped he would (and the producers also
disappointingly cut Tarkin’s killing of Sobek, ultimately giving that
responsibility to Ahsoka (who’s also starting to pick up some bad
habits from her Master in this adventure), which I think would have
been very interesting to have seen in the characters evolutionary build
up prior to his eventual rise within the First Galactic Empire), though
I’m sure I’ll get used to him eventually, and Tarkin’s bound to be back
in the series at a later point (perhaps taking over from Yularen as
Anakin's right hand man Republic commander-now that would be an
intriguing move!). Then, in counter-balance to the Classic Trilogy,
Prequel fans would also get a nice surprise with another old favourite
finally becoming an animated reality: the diminutive, and Italian
sounding, Even Piell (voiced by Blair Bess), quick to action and a Force
to be reckoned with in combat.
Just having these two memorable characters (and a brief appearance

from the Ugnaughts) would be enough for a normal episode or two,
but THE CITADEL TRILOGY upped the ante with the sheer amount of
heroes and villains making their mark in the action, especially with the
sheer amount of droids working on both sides, what with a little
opening cameo from Threepio, Artoo and his little trio of Battle Droids
(brave and loyal to the end), plus lots of ever deadly Droidekas and
Crab Droids, and a welcome return for those more virile and dexterous
combat/commando droids. Plus there were several superb STAP
battles involving Anakin, Obi-Wan and Even Piell that were even more
ambitious and exciting than anything seen in the first CLONE WARS
animated movie from 2008.On the more animalistic side of the
conflict, there were other lethal creature challenges for our heroes to
subdue, too, including the savage, well realized Anooba tracking
beasts dispatched by Sobek which unceasingly chased our band of
hunted heroes through the volcanic landscapes-yep, more volcanoes
for Anakin!- in the final episode.
With so much going on within the adventure, it must have been an

immense job for the behind the scenes production team to work on but
they did a great job. The first part, in particular, proved so fast paced
that the 22 minutes flew by, and I couldn’t believe it was over so
quickly. Part two slightly suffered from some padding, but the finale
ramped the action and excitement back up a further notch, proved to
be stirring stuff, and easily became one of the most memorable
installments created and achieved for the series so far (but there
wasn’t enough of that finale space battle-I wanted more of Saesee Tiin
and his Jedi Starfighter squad!). Overall the entire three parter was
very well plotted and thought through by writer Matt Michnovetz (more
stories from him, please!), packed with heroic heroes, a memorable
new baddie who made a mark, and, after what seemed like a very long
time away from our screens, some terrific involvement for Captain Rex
and the Clone Troopers, once again doing what they do best –kick
Separatist heads! Also, in a mission this big, and adding depth to the
story, it would have been a disappointment if there hadn’t been
casualties on such a risky assignment, and this three parter more than
showed and explored the consequences of the conflict/escape, with the
sad deaths of trooper Echo in part two and Jedi Master Piell (whose
demise clashes with Expanded Universe lore) in the final episode,
bravely fighting one of those nasty Anooba beasts. As well as the
overall sadness at these characters loss, it was also brave to see Dave
Filoni and the gang continuing to keep the darker, more adult tone of
previous Year Three second half episodes here, an example being the
part one moment where the Torture Droid, before being taken out by
our rescuers, was going to pierce the captured Piell’s one remaining
eye! Ouch. Now that’s evil!
AFICIONADO OVERALL RATING: It may have maintained its overall

story quality better had it been a two rather than three parter, but
that didn’t stop THE CITADEL saga from pretty much delivering the
goods the majority of the time with regards to action and fast paced
excitement. One of the series absolute best, and a fine
homage/acknowledgement to the Classic Trilogy. 4.5 out of 5
EPISODE TWENTY-ONE: PADAWAN LOST

Writer: Bonnie Mark
MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: Season Three, Episode Sixteen
First UK transmission: March 19th 2011
First US transmission: April 1st 2011
STORY: Ahsoka and a group of abducted younglings find themselves

trapped on a Trandoshan moon, prey in an elaborate and cruel hunt.
The forlorn younglings have lost all hope, despite the best efforts of
their spirited leader, Kalifa. Ahsoka rallies them to defend themselves
and strike back against the Trandoshan, an effort with deadly
consequences.
EPISODE TWENTY-TWO: WOOKIEE HUNT
Writer: Bonnie Mark
MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: Season Three, Episode Eighteen
First UK Transmission: March 26th 2011
First US Transmission: April 1st 2011
STORY: As Ahsoka and her youngling allies struggle to evade the

Trandoshan hunters, their efforts receive an unexpected boost when a
new captive -- Chewbacca the Wookiee -- arrives. Chewie scrounges
parts from a wrecked Trandoshan slave ship, assembling a
communicator to send out a distress signal. Help arrives in the
towering, shaggy form of Wookiee warriors led by General Tarfful.
Freed from captivity, Ahsoka returns to the Jedi Temple and is
reunited with Anakin Skywalker.
OVERALL DUOLOGY REVIEW: The hunt is on! If you’re a loyal fan of

Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano you’ll no doubt have been very pleased
with the way her involvement in the saga has progressed this season,
and she’s certainly had a good innings this year with regards to stories
and characterization, in some ways better than some of our main
heroes like Obi-Wan Kenobi. With further fine voice work by Ashley
Eckstein, Ahsoka has matured greatly and she will no doubt, even with
a few of Anakin’s failings and shady interpretations of the Jedi code
now built in to her character, become a great Jedi Knight (perhaps
she’ll be receiving that honour in a ceremony next year?). PADAWAN
LOST adds even more dimension to the occasionally feisty but pure
hearted Togrutan, as, separated from her Master and captured by the
reptilian Trandoshans in a sneak attack on Felucia (quickly becoming
the most seen planet of the animated series), she is forcibly placed on
a hostile jungle wilderness planet, Wasskah, and quickly has to take
the initiative and become a pro-active and fearless leader to inspire
the other captured and pursued Jedi younglings, prior led by the
ultimately doomed Kalifa (a very nice vocal performance from
Gwendoline Yeo), killed in another rather shocking but memorable
moment for a family series, who had almost given up hope of survival
before Ahsoka’s arrival.
The idea of seeing the Jedi younglings in a dangerous new situation

outside the comfort zone of the Jedi Temple was an inspired move by
writer Bonnie Mark, accompanied by lightning fast, supremely
executed direction from Series Supervisor Dave Filoni, in a story that
also made the most of its evocative overall theme of the classic sci-fi
hunter/prey scenario, full of great sci-fi references to other classic
films and TV series, covering everything from PLANET OF THE APES to
JURASSIC PARK, with lots of great, and very noticeable nods to the
PREDATOR series. The use of the Trandoshans in the series, with all
their different looks and skills (acting like giant talking Veloceraptors)
was another inspired move and one sure to get the adrenaline
pounding in all of the die-hard STAR WARS fans aware of their
Expanded Universe histories as big game hunters and cruel
enslaver/captors. It was also fun to get a look at their used and
grungy technology, slaver ships and giant air base (which I felt had
similarities to the superb Cloud Base from the classic Gerry Anderson
1960’s puppet series CAPTAIN SCARLET AND THE MYSTERONS),
whose interior is filled with intriguing character design that added
much to our unique interpretations and awareness of the species, right
down to the Wampa head throne of its leader and trophies including
Gungan heads, Wookiees and even a Crystal Skull from INDIANA
JONES IV!
The Jedi may have been trapped and facing overwhelming instinct led,
highly aggressive enemy combatants by the end of PADAWAN LOST,
but the odds on the killing playground will soon be evened up nicely by
the opening minutes of WOOKIEE HUNT, as, emerging from the
remains of the crashed slave drop ship, that lovable and iconic 200
year old Millennium Falcon co-pilot-to-be, the mighty Chewbacca,
steps out from the night time shadows and debris, and gives us that
unique and iconic magical howl/grunting sound that confidently tells us
that viewers, and especially fans of the Classic Trilogy, will be in for a
magical treat for the rest of the episode!
With such high expectations with the announcement of his return to

the series, and after only a small appearance in EPISODE III in 2005,
Chewie’s introduction into the tale is cleverly handled and he’s soon
thoroughly immersed and reminding audiences just why we loved him
as a STAR WARS character and hero in the first place, as his best
characteristics come to the fore: technician, fighter (its great to truly
see him in prime physical action here: there’s no arms pulled out of
their sockets, sadly, but he’s certainly good at clobbering
Trandoshans!) and loyal friend to have with you in a crisis, working
well with his new colleagues-in-arms. As shown in the online
documentary, the animators, alongside Chewie inhabitant Peter
Mayhew, have really done an exhaustively fine, and very lovingly
recreated research job in bringing back the character (and kudos to
the sound design team for resurrecting all the Wookiee’s barks and
subtle language noises, too), as well as cleverly overcoming the
animation difficulties of fur design. Chewie looks like Chewie, and
that’s one of the best compliments you can give Filoni and his team.
And then, beyond Chewbacca, in the episodes closing minutes, our
Wookiee treat only gets better what with a super finale battle on the
Trandoshan Cloud Base that sees the surprise return of Tarfful and his
warrior compatriots in an audience cheering moment to rescue their
friends and sort out the slavers, whilst Ahsoka has an equally thrilling
and well choreographed final battle with the reptile leader in his throne
room.
Already a tightly paced and structured, incident packed episode, my

only complaint about the finale was that it was still too short.
Another two or three minutes would have been even better-not just for
the action, but with the final scene involving Anakin and Ahsoka re-
united on Coruscant amongst the Wookiees (a sequence which also
gives us a short but sweet moment where Yoda shows his pleasure at
the developing relationship between Master and Padawan). I hope the
eventual Blu-ray and DVD season release of this episode has extra
material, and, hint to Filoni and co., wouldn’t it be great at a later date
if we could get at least one more Wookiee story fully set on Kashyyyk.
How about with Yoda alongside them, too?
AFICIONADO OVERALL RATING: With a very strong set-up, great
action and stirring animation cinematography, the later arrival of
Chewbacca and the Wookiees to the Trandoshan plot proved to be the
much deserved icing on the cake to a fine two-parter, and providing
Season Three with an excellent, nostalgic, and very satisfying season
ending. 4.5 out of 5
AFICIONADO SEASON REVIEW: At times conflicting in tone and

story quality, Season Three of THE CLONE WARS was a true
game of two halves: the first enjoyable but not classic, with
some weak episodes particularly set on Mandalore, with the
series gradually improving by the mid-point for the time of the
Cad Bane/Hutts saga, then the show soaring into a smashing,
equally diverse mix of episode styles in its second half, which
worked far better and kicked into full throttle with increased
sophistication and consistency, showcasing some classic
adventures, especially with the introduction of Savage Opress,
the intriguing opening part of the Mortis Saga, the action
packed adventure within THE CITADEL, and a rousing, highly
satisfying, full of action and nostalgia, two part conclusion with
Chewbacca and Ahsoka. It may not have totally lived up to its
season moniker of SECRETS REVEALED (only the possible
return of Darth Maul stood out on that front), but, with lots
more referencing to the Original Trilogy and the darker
storytelling shift in its final half, Series Three of THE CLONE
WARS thankfully overcame its shaky start to become even
more ambitious and game-changing than ever. Far better to
have a season begin weak and end strongly, as it did here, than
suffer the reverse.
There’s still plenty of life and stories to tell in this beautifully

realized universe of STAR WARS fantasy and action.
OVERALL SEASON RATING: 3.5 OUT OF 5

SEASON FOUR: BATTLE LINES
Supervising Director (including additional dialogue and story material):

Dave Filoni
Story Editor/ Series Writer: Christian Taylor
Staff Writers: Scott Murphy, Katie Lucas, Brian Larsen

ANIMATION
VOICE CAST

Dee Bradley Baker as the Clone Troopers
Tom Kane as Yoda / Admiral Yularen / Tactical Droid / Narrator
Nika Futterman as Asajj Ventress
Corey Burton as Count Dooku/ Cad Bane
Matthew Wood as General Grievous/Battle Droids/
Phil Lamarr as Kit Fisto/Bail Organa
Artoo Detoo as himself
Sam Witwer as Darth Maul (Episodes 21 and 22)

Dave Fennoy as Pong Krell (Episodes 7-10)
Fred Tatasciore as Captain Tarpals (Episode 4)
Ahmed Best as Jar Jar Binks (Episode 2-4)
Dave Filoni as Embo (Episode 17-18 and 20)
Daniel Logan as Boba Fett (Episodes 15 and 20),
Dee Bradley Baker as the various Clone Troopers
Jon Favreau as Pre Vizsla (Episode 14)
Katee Sackhoff as Bo Katan (Episode 14)
Barbara Goodson as Mother Talzin (Episode 19)
Clancy Brown as Savage Opress (Episodes 21 and 22)
Angelique Perrin as Adi Gallia (Episode 6)
Tom Kane as the narrator
Note: episode synopsis come from STARWARS.COM
EPISODE ONE: WATER WAR

Writer: Jose Molina
Director: Duwayne Dunham
Made in Production Order: Season 3 Episode 22
First US transmission date (CARTOON NETWORK): September 16th

2011
First UK transmission date (CARTOON NETWORK): April 2nd 2012
Story: Anakin and Padme travel to Mon Calamari to prevent civil war
breaking out between the co-existing Mon Cala and the Quarren
following the murder of the planet’s leader king and the recent
inauguration of his young heir, Lee-Char.
EPISODE TWO: GUNGAN ATTACK
Writer: Jose Malina
First US transmission: September 16th 2011

First UK transmission: April 3rd 2012
Story: Calling on the help of the Separatists, and their vicious

Karkardon leader, Tamson, the Quarren launch a full scale surprise
attack on Lee-Char and his people, with the Jedi assisting their
overwhelmed friends with the additional help of Jar Jar Binks and the
nearby Gungan army from Naboo.
EPISODE THREE: PRISONERS

Writer: Jose Molina
Director: Danny Keller
First US transmission date: September 23rd 2011

First UK transmission date: April 4th 2012
Story: Prince Lee-Char, with the help and courage of Ahsoka, attempts
to unite the people of Mon Cala in helping the captured Jedi and clone
troopers rid the ocean world of Separatist invaders.
Overall three part story review: A bold and atmospheric start to the
season with stunning underwater action and cinematography, with the
artists and Dave Filoni’s directing threesome directors (one of whom
would be Lucas’s old buddy from the JEDI days, Duwayne Dunham
(who previously worked on Season Two) taking great pains to make
sure the underwater world of Mon Calamari-never really seen in any
details before in the saga-looking both realistic in it's natural life and
environment and as a part of George Lucas’s CLONE WARS universe…
Jason may have been a little stretched over three episodes, but this
was a glorious visual treat (life and movement underwater, and the
way the picture quality was softened with use of bubbles and water
spray, cleverly adding depth to the underwater illusion), accompanied
by spectacular visual action scenes (the attack for the enemy hadroid
Medusas, the underwater whirlwind battle-the return of those floppy
eared action heroes, the Gungans) that certainly kept the story afloat
(excuse the pun!) and made the most of this new backdrop and its
exotic other worldly locations and creatures, once again going beyond
what we’ve seen before in the series: it was kinda like a STAR WARS
version of the classic Sean Connery BOND film Thunderball.
Seeing the world of Mon Calamari and its diverse lifeforms (male and
female) was fun-especially Captain Ackbar, who was brilliantly realized
and vocally performed, and even bearing that cool looking weapon he
had from his 1982 KENNER action figure days, too! Nice to see old
smiley Kit Fisto leading the charge, Jar Jar Binks, whose clumsiness
worked to our heroes advantage within parts of the story (saving
Padme with his spit. Ugh! Crude but effective!), and the other brave
aforementioned Gungans used effectively in the storytelling process for
parts two and three. And on the Clone Trooper front, just how cool
were those Aqua troops. Intriguingly, there was much more physical
conflict between people and creatures rather than battle droids-some
of the death scenes shown quickly on screen between opponents were
brutally effective!- a welcome change, more adult in style, and
something I hope we see more of in the overall Battle Lines umbrella
for this season.
Amongst the political intrigue and stellar action taking place, new
shark-like villains Tamsus, was a perfect baddie to boo and hiss at for
audiences of all ages, and the perfect opposite to the types of friendly
Carcarion Carcarias we’ve seen in the likes of animated movies like
FINDING NEMO (I loved the scene where it fixed its jaws after
receiving a blow from Kit Fisto-a quirky but in-character moment like
that which reminds us why this series is so good). This was a totally
aggressive animal finning his way into an instinctive killing spree in his
battle with our Republic heroes, showing particular zeal in his pursuit
of his Jedi enemies and the young Mon Calamari King Char-free. The
final action scene between them reminded me of the Chief Brody/
shark conflict finale of Spielberg’s seminal JAWS.
Overall, this fourth season has gotten off to a winning start and bodes
well for the rest of the year.
EPISODE FOUR: SHADOW WARRIOR

First US Transmission: September 30th 2011

First UK Transmission: April 5th 2012
Story: When the leader of the Gungans, Boss Lyonie, is injured it's
discovered there is an uncanny resemblance between the Boss and Jar
Jar Binks. Binks must sway his people from rising against the Naboo
and stopping a Separatist invasion led by General Grievous.
Review: For a story that should have, indeed started off quite
lightweight and smaller scale (in comparison to the previous Mon
Calamari saga), what with the Gungans and another appearance from
comedic Jar Jar (whose canny impersonation of the injured Bos saved
Naboo from a new civil war), this episode, which had some very nice
development of Naboo and Otah Gunga as seen in EPISODE ONE,
surprisingly evolved into a quite dark place halfway through, with
more welcome, bleak and violent moments. The scene where the
Gungans, led by the brave General Tarpals, took on a smug and
completely outwitted General Grievous was handled extremely well,
whilst brave Tarpals death from the Droid general’s lightsaber, was
also genuinely upsetting and a tribute to his bravery and courage
against such a vicious and evil foe-another great STAR WARS hero
supporting character has now lost to us in this continuing conflict.
The duel between the outmatched Anakin and Count Dooku was also
dramatic and full of visual ingenuity, with our Jedi’s capture and
prisoner exchange for the restrained, battle damaged Grievous
effectively conveying to viewers a very genuine sense of frustration for
Padme and her people at having to let such a dangerous force back
out into the universe. Another mature theme taking the series up a
further notch in quality.
Continuing George Lucas visual and story nods to the film work of
famed Japanese director Kurosawa, SHADOW WARRIOR was an
interesting mix of comedy and drama, and another noteworthy entry
in the series so far. Family viewers worried that the show may be
getting too dark will be relieved to hear that the next two adventures
featuring Artoo and Threepio should restore some fun and whimsy
back into the series...
EPISODE FIVE: MERCY MISSION

Writer: Bonnie Mark

First UK transmission: April 6th 2012
Story: After ground quakes have devastated the planet Aleen, a

Republic relief effort arrives, including the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO.
When the native Aleena's pleas go unheard, it becomes the duty of the
droids to embark on a surreal journey through Aleen's subterranean
world to save the planet.
Review: A rather bizarre but family friendly outing for the lovable
droids, as Anthony Daniels returns to put the flavor of STAR WARS
back into the series for the younger audiences as golden protocol droid
See-Threepio. It’s the weakest entry of the season, but it does have
some lovely animation and bumbling heroics for our droids (especially
Artoo-always the smarter one in the pairing), which make this
acceptably watchable.
EPISODE SIX: NOMAD DROIDS

Writer: Steve Mitchell and Craig Van Sickle

Story: C-3PO and R2-D2's bizarre caper continues. Forced to escape a

Separatist attack in a Y-wing fighter, the droids visit the world of the
Patitites, the odd planet Balnab, and the inside of a pirate warship
where they are forced to fight in a gladiatorial arena.
Review: More droid fantasy from writers Mitchell and Sickle who
penned last year’s fun tale, Evil Plans, for the droids. I personally
found this a much more enjoyable tale than Bonnie Mark’s previous
outing, and liked the way the separated pair’s chaotic and diverse
adventures took them to a variety of places before ultimately sending
them back to the place where it all began for them, much to the
annoyance of the many Cone Troopers who thought they’d lost them
for good! Some nice humour, and visuals, this quirky runabout was a
lively and picturesque kind of homage/kaleidoscope to their eighties
DROIDS series.
EPISODE SEVEN: DARKNESS ON UMBARA

First US Transmission: October 28th 2011

First UK Transmission: April 10th 2012
Story: When Anakin is forced to temporarily turn over command of his

clone troopers to a new commander, the Jedi Pong Krell, tensions
begin to run high as the clones are assigned with a very deadly
mission to take the capital of Umbara.
EPISODE EIGHT: THE GENERAL

Director: Walter Murch

Made in production order: Season 3 Episode 26
Story: General Krell orders Captain Rex and the clone troopers of the
501st Legion to conquer a heavily fortified Umbaran airbase, and will
not accept anything less than victory. It is an almost certain suicide
mission, unless the clones can use their ingenuity to defeat their new
enemy.
EPISODE NINE: PLAN OF DISSENT


Story: After the Republic conquers an Umbaran airbase, General Krell

orders Rex and his men on towards the heavily fortified capital.
Realizing there's a better plan, several clone troopers disobey orders
to carry out a rogue, covert operation.
EPISODE TEN: CARNAGE OF KRELL


Story: With two of his men facing execution for disobeying orders,
Captain Rex must confront his overly aggressive commander, General
Krell. Risking charges of mutiny, Rex must make a dark choice as the
true face of the enemy emerges.
Overall story review: The fourth season finally gets its first classic
story with the four part Umbrara saga, which, with its shocks and
surprises especially in part four, will no doubt have future ramifications
for both the Clones, led by indomitable Captain Rex, and the Jedi
Knights in the lead-in to EPISODE III. Here Rex and his loyal men are
tested to dramatic breaking point by the leadership and tyranny of Jedi
General Pong Krell. Well voiced with mighty weight and aggressive
bubbling beneath the surface by Dave Fennoy, Krell’s disdain and
callous disregard for the Clone Troopers lives proves unsettling for the
audiences at times.
The besalisk Krell, with his multi-limbed lightsaber action and

overbearing style, soon shows no regard or respect for the Clone
Troopers-from the moment he starts referring to them as numbers
rather than names, cannon fodder in order to achieve his objectives,
and the subtle but disturbing scene where he kicks away the body of
one of Rex’s fallen - a subtle, shocking hint of his character nature to
come- you know things aren’t going to be right here…
The early brewing antagonism and frustrations of the clone troopers as

they go into battle and get slaughtered in great numbers on the orders
of Krell, who never leads from the front, is well developed and the
moment where Rex clenches his fist in almost striking his command is
a unique moment in the series. Rightly proud of this adventure, actor
Dee Bradley Baker excels himself in every way in bringing the many,
many supporting clones troopers (Rex, Waxer, Fives, Valiant, etc.) to
life in this tale. A reason d’etre for ORDER 66 starts to become
apparent with the episodes (witness the way the monotone troopers
kill some of the injured Shadowmen), but I still don’t totally buy
Lucas’s vision for the troops fully turning against the Jedi by EPISODE
III without some kind of genetic control.
The king of Clone Trooper storytelling, Matt Michnovitz’s scripts are full
of dark incident, dramatic power and stunning action set pieces as
they peel back the issue layers of loyalty, honour, trust and integrity,
with brotherhood tested amongst dissent, treachery and danger…
The stunning visual wonder of the story also mustn’t be denied- with
the overall look of a planet trapped in darkness-the ultimate shade of
hell, Umbara is one of the most intriguing and dangerous worlds ever
seen in THE CLONE WARS-one that I wish we could have seen for real
in a Prequel movie- as our heroic soldiers push on against
overwhelming odds to secure vital areas of the planet, whilst treading
dangerous vegetation and natural life, as well as the wiles and deadly
skills of the alien Shadowmen and their incredibly diverse and
intriguing bio mechanical technology. For the most part, this planet
siege story holds itself well over four episodes, but the second directed
by friend yet newcomer to STAR WARS, Walter Murch, with its
stunning battle against the tank-like centipede creatures was
incredibly well-directed-exciting and exhilarating, it was certainly one
of the most awe-inspiring action openings so far in the entire series.
Part Three may have felt a little padded out at times with the odd
spark of jarring humour in the raid on the enemy command ship
(destroyed in a similar way to Anakin’s skills in EPISODE ONE), but the
conclusion, with its lies, betrayals, death (the slaying of Waxer) and
the final revelations about Krell and his behavior to the men under his
command are the final satisfying icing on the dramatic cake. It was so
dramatic, subtly disturbing and interesting to watch that there were
times I was forgetting I was watching an animated series. The final
scenes with Rex were tense and highly effective, giving the storyline a
tragic and very serious game-changing set of consequences for our
Clone heroes
THEFORCE.NET website quite rightly stated that the bar for the series
has been raised ever higher with this adventure. I would totally agree,
and so much more. I think THE CLONE WARS has actually outgrown
itself as an animated series shown on CARTOON NETWORK. Here was
a tale that actually surpassed many live-action drama series, and this
story may even prove to be one of the overall series crowning
achievement.
OVERALL AFICIONADO RATING: 4.5 out of 5 (most notably for parts

one and three)
EPISODE ELEVEN: KIDNAPPED

Writers: Henry Gilroy and Steve Melching
First UK transmission: May 14th 2012
Story: Zygerrian slavers are behind the sudden disappearance of an

entire colony of people on the planet Kiros. As Anakin and Ahsoka rush
to defuse a series of bombs planted by the slavers, Obi-Wan must
fight with their imposing leader.
EPISODE TWELVE: SLAVES OF THE REPUBLIC

Writers: Henry Gilroy and Steven Melching
First US transmission: December 2nd 2011

Story: To locate the missing colonists, Anakin, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka go

undercover to infiltrate the slavers on Zygerria. Anakin struggles with
his emotions as a wily Zygerrian queen forces him to take questionable
actions in order to carry out his mission.
EPISODE THIRTEEN: ESCAPE FROM KADAVO

First US transmission: May 6th 2012

Story: Anakin tries to convince the Zygerrian Queen that she too is a
slave and pawn in an evil Separatist plot. Meanwhile, Obi-Wan toils in
the slave camps of Kadavo, a grim situation that grows increasingly
bleak.
Overall story review: It's a much welcome return to the series for
Season One writer/Story Editor Henry Gilroy, who previously helmed
so many great STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS tales and helped set
the tone for what was to come. His absence as a story-teller was
keenly felt by this reviewer…
His classic 2008/09 DARK HORSE comic was ripe for spectacular
translation in to the animated medium (including some intriguing new
snippets of pre-EPISODE ONE galactic history), and here, with Lucas
and Filoni, he puts our main heroes in a very difficult and unusual set
of circumstances as the series continues delving into deeper, darker,
more complex areas- slavery, a subtle part of the first STAR WARS
prequel, coming to the fore in this intriguing and often exciting three-
parter that holds its own pace-wise throughout and holds its own
alongside the previous Umbara storyline.
I was perhaps expecting a little bit more character of development of

Ahsoka linked to her people being kidnaped and enslaved, but clearly
this is Anakin and Obi-Wan ‘s story, and they deserved a bit more of
the spotlight at this point in the season, especially Obi-Wan, as played
by James Arnold Taylor...
This was an adventure with a very dark subject matter for a family
show: the master/servant relationship between Anakin and the
Zygerrian Queen, who sees him as a handy plaything and superior
bodyguard, being the standout. The slavery aspects of Anakin’s life
was a storyline that I thought would show more prominence than it
actually did within the Prequel Trilogy movies, especially in EPISODE
II, when it was first announced that Anakin would be returning to
Tatooine, and that his presumably still slaved mother, Shmi, would be
making an appearance. This new arc with the Zygerrian slavers, where
the Kirosians truly discover the true darkness behind Count Dooku,
goes a long way in redressing that imbalance, whilst the chair bound
evil of the threatening, deliberately sacrificing slaves to make a point
about resistance to Obi-Wan, brings some genuine darkness and
cruelty.
Suffering in his duties and bravery, poor Obi-Wan-after everything

happening to him in this adventure-looks like he’ll be spending a
month or two in a Bacta Tank to recover from his ordeal and injuries
with the Zygerrian slavers-a vicious bunch with a major league grudge
against the Jedi for destroying their prior millennia established slave
empire. That first punch up with Daa the slave in the opening part is
brutal enough, but the brutal hardship he suffers alongside Captain
Rex within in the Kadavo prison/mining facility also leads to much
injure and worse for wear treatment from their jailers.
Meanwhile, Anakin’s understandably aggressive tendencies towards

the enslavers, linked to his prior history as a slave are heightened and
explored by the writers, accompanied by a new variation on the Vader
theme from Kevin Kilner that's subtly done. Overall, I feel that this
trilogy has some of Kilner’s finest work on the show-it felt like he had
more of a chance to breathe and bring more showmanship and
adventure to his incidental music. John Williams he ain’t, but there
was some great stuff here, nonetheless!
These modern Jedi are certainly facing some of their toughest

opponents in their duty to free the captured, with some excellent
action set-pieces: the Zygerrian whips versus lightsabers fight was
excellent, starting off with a triumphant call to arms for our heroes
before they are soundly defeated: a complete reverse to the audience
triumphing action that follows years later in a similar plan by Luke
Skywalker for RETURN OF THE JEDI! In this homage to the
past/future, I loved that Artoo actually ended up carrying three
lightsabers this time around! Oh to have that trusty little Astro-Droid
as a real-life travelling!
The Zygerrians world where parts two and three of the story are
staged continues the series great pantheon of new planets and
civilizations- the humid musty atmosphere of the decadent and
belligerent world with the look of Aztec, Egyptian, Moroccan and
ancient Rome meshed with the STAR WARS technology, aliens
(featuring creatures similar to those seen on Utapau in EPISODE III)
and landscapes we know and love.
The aforementioned action and adventure are tightly choreographed

and exciting in part one, reaching exhilarating levels in the final
breathlessly exciting minutes of part three, with some cool STAR
WARS moments for our main and supporting characters to shine,
especially Rex who has another great Clint Eastwood-esque moment,
making sure that the evil slave overlord gets the point of his verbal
message, whilst Dave Filoni alter-ego Plo Koon gets to shine with his
combat skills leading a fighter squadron attack on Kadavo. Such
excitement brings this perilous journey of liberation to an “Impressive.
Most impressive” conclusion.
EPISODE FOURTEEN: A FRIEND IN NEED


Story: A peace conference between Separatists and Republic delegates

is interrupted by Lux Bonteri, the son of a late Separatist Senator, who
involves Ahsoka in his dangerous search to find justice for his mother's
death.
Review: Escaping death and wanting revenge for the death of his
Separatist Senator mother, Lux Bonteri, friend to Ahsoka Tano from
Season Three, is back, and he’s in big trouble, having foolishly aligned
himself with the pariah groups of Mandalorian soldiers, the Death
Watch, to strike back at Count Dooku. Up to his head, its up to
Ahsoka, her ultimate relationship with the boy in a kind neutral holding
pattern story-telling wise, to sort the mess out. But it’s going to be
quite a challenge…
An enjoyable skirmish battle with the Mandalorians, who have a touch

of the Mongol Hordes about them here, with Pre Visla almost acting
like a poor man’s Genghis Khan this time out as he and his band cause
chaos to Bonteri and ravage a small fry alien world of snowy
crystalline. There are some fine moments for both them and Ahsoka’s
developing Jedi combat skills for fans to enjoy (including some nifty
action around a Landspeeder and a moment where she takes out four
Mando’s without even blinking!, all well handled by director Filoni),
plus a mini revolt by some rebuilt droids against the chaos making
mercenaries, but this popular race of galactic baddies deserves
something bigger and better on the horizon than this.
Special kudos to THE CLONE WARS team for selecting the feisty Katee
Sackhoff, bringing some of that BATTLESTAR GALACTICA Starbuck
edginess and attitude in spades to the role of Death Watch splinter
group leader Bo Katan. She only gets a few lines here but she makes
the most of them and her animated form is well realized, making a
memorable enough mark alongside the decent return of Jon Favreau
voicing warrior with a grudge Pre Vizsla, whom she compliments.
Overall, it’s nice to see a few more women added to the Death Watch
roster, the warriors visually looking more menacing than they did in
Season Two (the fire-side scenes with bringing back memories of the
classic 1980 Bob Seidemann EMPIRE poster of the flame-throwing
Boba Fett).
AFICOONADO RATING: An enjoyable if hardly classic 3.5 out of 5
EPISODE FIFTEEN: DECEPTION

Writer: Brent Friedman

First UK transmission: May 21st 2012
Story: When the Jedi learn of a Separatist plot to kidnap Chancellor

Palpatine, one of them must go deep undercover as a hardened
criminal to extract information from the conspirators.
EPISODE SIXTEEN: FRIENDS AND ENEMIES

Director: Bosco Ng

First UK transmission: May 22nd 2012
Story: Fleeing across the galaxy with criminal fugitives, a disguised
Obi-Wan, Cad Bane and Moralo Eval are tenaciously pursued by Anakin
and Ahsoka, who have no idea they're chasing their friend.
EPISODE SEVENTEEN: THE BOX

First US Transmission: February 3rd 2012

First UK transmission: May 23rd 2012
Story: The disguised Obi-Wan accompanies Cad Bane and Moralo Eval
to Serenno, where they enlist in a brutal competition with other bounty
hunters from around the galaxy to determine who will participate in a
plot to kidnap the Chancellor.
EPISODE EIGHTEEN: CRISIS ON NABOO

First US transmission: February 10th 2012

STORY: The Chancellor travels to Naboo to preside over a public

ceremony, guarded by Jedi Knights. Dooku and his bounty hunters --
including an undercover Obi-Wan Kenobi -- launch their kidnapping
plot.
Overall story review: This would be a dream come true for all fans of
the universe of bounty hunters within STAR WARS, what with Cad
Bane’s diverse and nicely realized cadre assembled (including hatted
great Embo and the Ron Cobb production design from the original
STAR WARS finally realized: the octopus-like Parwan) for a secret
mission to capture Palpatine. Cad Bane gets a new look and animated
upgrade and a change of hat (though he doesn’t take Indiana Jones’s
a nice reference to Lucas’s other universe). As sly and dangerous as
ever, whilst Obi-Wan gets to shine in this tale in his disguised form
(James Arnold Taylor’s voice heavily disguised in post production).
Plus, a nice cameo from Boba Fett and Bossk, still in prison on
Coruscant.
A true mixture of classic and prequel locations and characters added

strongly to the tale, as well as a rare look in to the world of covert
operations and infiltration by the Jedi than we’ve ever seen before,
amidst a whole load of genre crossing, from PRISON BREAK to other
sci-fi films, like the cult nineties hit THE CUBE, all given a satisfying
STAR WARS reworking. Overall, The Box, proved the best of the four
parts involving the assembled miscreants- a smart twenty-two minutes
full of lethal and visual ingenuity that must have been a fun challenge
for Filoni and team to realize. As well as aliens old and new, there was
also a wide variety of planet zipping, from Serenno, to Nal Hutta (with
a groovy cameo from villainess singer Sy Snootles), and more on
Naboo (with a nice animated introduction to Oliver Ford Davis’s
prequel character of Naboo senator Sio Bibble).
It was also time for the writers to sow more of the early seeds of
disenchantment by Anakin towards Obi-Wan and the Jedi Council,
feeling used and abused about not being told of their secret plan to
infiltrate Bane’s group, his anger and frustrations egged on by the
quiet yet razor sharp manipulations of scary father-figure Palpatine.
But there was also time for him to indulge in some great action, too,
alongside his protective Padawan, Ahsoka, from his cornering of Bane,
and then the disguised Obi, to the final lightsaber duel with Dooku in
and out of Theed Palace.
In the end, the Palpatine kidnap plot seemed a trifle insignificant, but
that didn’t matter when the final parts closing minutes had such
excellent character script work further leading into EPISODE III and
some fine scenes for Ian Abercrombie as Palpatine, whose episodes,
airing with the news of his passing, make us miss him even more.
EPISODE NINETEEN: MASSACRE
Writer: Katie Lucas

First US Transmission: February 24th 2012

First UK Transmission: May 26th 2012
Story: Count Dooku is determined to have revenge against the

Nightsisters of Dathomir after their betrayal. General Grievous
launches an all-out droid attack against the magic-wielding witches,
and Mother Talzin and Asajj Ventress lead the defense with all the dark
powers at their command.
Review: No sign of any of our Jedi heroes this week, it's baddies
against baddies, and a clash of intriguing physical and ethereal powers
power of differing sides in the aptly titled Massacre, as General
Grievous and his droid armies go to the mystical world of Dathomir on
a seek and destroy mission, to fulfill Count Dooku’s desired vengeance
against Mother Talzin and her devoted sisterhood.
The use of Talzin and her people’s sympathetic magic, seen in season
three, continues intriguingly with this story-a departure from the
realms of the Midi-cholrians and the Force, once more from the
imagination and talent of series staff-writer Katie Lucas, who handled
last years Savage Opress trilogy with great aplomb.
Super action scenes unfold throughout this exciting episode- a pure

adrenaline rush animation showpiece for the series. Multi-limbed,
multi-killing General Grievous is in his best murderous and vindictive
element here: the sequence where he/it takes on the army of the
dead, with faces that are crosses between skeletons and the Pygmy
mummies seen in the THE MUMMY RETURNS, brought back to life by
Talzin and her impish voodoo chieftain, prove superb. Prior to
Grievous, the scene-stealing creatures make mincemeat out of the
enemy Battle Droids and Super Battle Droids sent to the destroy them,
unable to adapt to their quickening moves and violent beheadings.
Meanwhile, on the flesh and blood side of the Sith attack, Count Dooku
has a bit of a hard time coping with his frightening plague spots- I
don’t think any type of Clearasil’s going to work on those any time
soon!- and almost at the point of death until his General servant
effectively stops the punishment. The build up to all this is well
handled and it’s nice to see Dooku almost being beaten at his own
game by an equally powerful and challenging enemy.
Together again with her sisters, Asajj Ventress leads the battle against
her former masters – the imagery alone of her squaring off against
Grievous is enough to make you want to see the episode- but even she
is ultimately robbed of victory here, ultimately overwhelmed and left
alone in the universe, devoid of purpose and angry with her current
predicament at the hands of Grievous and Dooku.
An interesting and often exhilarating end (for now?) to the Nightsisters

story arc, Massacre is another terrific highlight of the season, and
continues exemplifying this seasons battle lines drawn theme.
EPISODE TWENTY: BOUNTY

Writer: Katie Lucas
First US transmission: March 2nd 2012

Story: An aimless Asajj Ventress joins a team of bounty hunters under

the leadership of young Boba Fett. On an alien world, they undertake a
dangerous but profitable mission that tests the limits of their skills,
and the strength of Asajj's character.
Review: The series evocative use of popular bounty hunters continues,

perhaps even more so than during the previous Season Two, as lone
warrior Asajj Ventress adapts to her new position as part of a cadre
protecting a valuable cargo travelling deep along the energy currents
of a subterranean world.
Her skills, training and Force powers as a warrior come to the fore
against the mysterious Ninja-esque hoodies that want to reclaim their
special cargo. At times, the action feels a little bit UNDER SEIGE 2
mixed with a little bit of Kurosawa swordplay and matters of love and
honour. Continuing the trend of human enemies fighting each other,
the various death scenes were violent but subtly handled for the
younger CARTOON NETWORK audiences…
The old and new mix of Bounty Hunters alongside her get to show
their abilities well (with another fun cameo featuring Embo on
Tatooine), like the impressive multi-blaster swirling robot guardian to
Boba Fett, C-21 Highsinger. The inclusion of old favourite Dengar was
a nice idea, as was his realization, but the voice work by star cameo
Simon Pegg was less successful-he just didn’t work in the role (it was
awful, like a cross between a poor man’s Michael Caine and a poor
man’s Christian Bale!), and wasn’t memorable enough. A lame duck
wasted opportunity and a poor casting choice-a rare mistake for the
series.
Fortunately, things for Bounty Hunter-to-be Boba Fett were a lot better
with this story. He’s growing up and fragments of the personality of
the Classic Trilogy version of the character are slowly but surely
beginning to come through. He hasn’t got the infamous hat yet, but
we’re getting there, and he certainly acquitted himself well in the
majority of the episodes fighting scenes, though he’s still not bright
enough to be the Boba we know from EMPIRE: outsmarted by
Ventress in the episodes closing moments.
Ultimately, the “prize” turns out to be some stereotyped Disney

characters- a captured princess and the handsome prince doing his
best to rescue his beloved- a slightly diminishing revelation to what
had been a good first half to the story. Overall, the whole adventure
reminded me of a fun short story/interlude you might see in a STAR
WARS TALES comic from DARK HORSE...
Another animation triumph this season, what with the attention to

detail in characters and inventive action within the fun new alien
environment- an underground cave system berthed in varying shades
of purple- wonderful to look at and rich in background detail whilst the
powerful speed train flew by (alongside some very subtle sound design
from David Accord), Bounty was certainly a breezy and colourful
episode, but by no means a classic.
Is this the closure of Ventress character in the series, now that she’s
at peace with herself as an individual by the adventures conclusion?
Has she now evolved beyond her hatred and need for revenge against
Dooku and her Jedi enemies, or is there a further long game being
planned by Filoni and co. which is going to propel her destiny nearer
towards the final end of the series? Now wealthy, and with new
prospects in the Outer Rim it'll be interesting to see if Ventress returns
and what the writers have in store for her next…
EPISODE TWENTY-ONE: BROTHERS

Writer: Katie Lucas
Director: Bosco Ng
First US transmission: March 9th 2012

Story: The dark warrior Savage Opress is on a quest to find his long-
lost brother. Could Darth Maul truly be alive, after more than a decade
since his gruesome bisection at the blade of Obi-Wan Kenobi? Savage
voyages into the depths of a twisted planet to find whatever became of
the fallen Sith Lord.
EPISODE TWENTY-TWO: REVENGE

Writer: Katie Lucas
First US Transmission: March 16th 2012

First UK Transmission: May 26th 2012
Story: Savage and Maul, now reunited, pursue Obi-Wan Kenobi in

search of revenge, and the Jedi Knight finds himself forced to unite
with a surprising ally to defend against the deadly siblings.
Overall review: The return from the dead of the Prequel Trilogy’s most
dexterous and vicious Sith Warrior, Darth Maul, impressed many with
this two part season finale. But I have to say that, for me personally,
the first sight of Maul as a spider length type creature with multi-
length horns skittering away in the dark caves of his present home, on
the brink of insanity with Sam Witwer’s OTT voice acting performance,
didn’t blow me away, nor did the opening episodes overall setting- a
junkyard inferno scene that reminded me of the FURY 161
environment of ALIEN 3 mixed with the lightweight kind of family
friendly vibe seen in DISNEY’s WALL-E. The idea of the snake, Morley,
leading Maul’s brother Savage Oppress to his brother’s discovery-I
suppose a homage to The Bible’s Snake in the Garden of Eden- didn’t
rock my world either. In general the whole first episode felt uninspired,
padded and with very little story material.
Fortunately, things improved with episode two. I would have preferred

it if Savage Oppress had found the body of Darth Maul unassisted and
brought him back to the life with the powers of Mother Talzin rather
than his already being alive (just how did Maul survive his slaying?
Who put him back together? And who left him on the scrapheap?
Nothing was explained). Whereas it looked like Savage/ Ventress plot
was over, the series writers proved us wrong once again, in rather
more inspired form having the latter team up with Obi-Wan to fight
the lethal new duo in the cramped interior of a smuggling vessel. A
nice sequence, well written (cute dialogue between them-Asajj and Obi
make a great couple!) and handled in its multi-combination lightsaber
choreography.
Parts of the storyline didn’t ring true for me personally as a long-time

STAR WARS fan. The way the two-parter was plotted was just way too
full of convenience, as well as the aforementioned unanswered
questions.
The idea of Obi-Wan going out there alone to face Maul, though
dramatic, was pretty incredulous by the Jedi Council, especially as he’s
been beaten up so much this season! Not having Anakin in this, as
he’d be too powerful a match for the Sith duo and likely kill one of
them, was another very noticeable convenience. And being a lethal
and efficient killer, surely Maul would have dispensed with Obi-Wan
straight away- why would he keep him as an alive trophy?
The bitter and twisted Maul, aware of the Clone Wars happening, but
not being around to see it was interesting, though his presence
diminishes the earlier power and impact that Savage Opress had made
in the show’s previous season. Now Savage has become the poor
man’s Maul in many respects, which is a shame.
A challenge for Katie Lucas to pull off, in some ways I’m happy that
Maul’s back- he was great in EPISODE I, and fans loved him –they
didn’t want him dead, and saw the potential for him as a regular foe if
he had lived. But George original saw to all that and wanted to have a
different enemy for each film (a smart move, I thought). Part of me
thinks George should have stuck by his original guns and not
capitulated to his or the fans whimsy. Resurrecting the character in
one of the VISIONARY comics, outside of any established continuity, is
one thing, but having him restored in the world of popular TV
animation is something different altogether. The lure of Maul’s
popularity obviously proved too great for George. For many his return
works, but to me, only just. The sooner they put him back in a cloak
and with some proper mechanical legs the better. I really hope that
this overtly contrived plotline doesn’t hinder the show in the long-
term.
Obviously, all this opens up a whole new can of worms for the saga
before the events of EPISODE III. Presumably the emergence of Maul
will be a threat to Darth Sidious. It will surely be Palpatine’s top
priority to have him eliminated.
The dangerous qualities of a renegade Maul will surely intensify over

the next season or two. If he can cold-bloodedly kill a group of alien
natives, just what else will he do to get Obi-Wan and the Jedi’s
attentions? And how will his presence interfere with Count Dooku’s
plans? An interesting lightsaber duel between all of them could be on
the cards. Or how about with cyborg Grievous?
As a season ender it wasn’t as satisfying as the two-part Chewbacca

story of year three. It didn’t leave a bad taste in my mouth by any
means, but with Maul resurrected, please, George, for the sake of
continued series credibility, NO MORE!
AFICIONADO RATING: A just about reaching 3 out of 5
AFICIONADO OVERALL SEASON RATING: It may not have the

zippy fun of earlier seasons, but this solid fourth year of THE
CLONE WARS continues to push ahead with diverse characters
and action as the behind the scenes team shows new ground
visually whilst pumping up the dramatic consequences for our
heroes and villains within the STAR WARS Prequel Saga. Lucas,
Filoni and co. carefully and critically tread a few vital steps
further towards the cataclysm to come that is EPISODE III.
The Umbara, Kadavo and Mon Calamari story arcs primarily

give this season a pumped up rating to 4 out of 5
SEASON FIVE: A WAR ON TWO
FRONTS
Supervising Director (including additional dialogue and story material):

Dave Filoni
Story Editor/ Series Writer: Christian Taylor

ANIMATION
VOICE CAST

Dee Bradley Baker as Captain Rex/the Clone Troopers
Tom Kane as Yoda/ Series narrator
Nika Futterman as Asajj Ventress
Corey Burton as Count Dooku
Tim Curry as Chancellor Palpatine (Episode 20 only)
Matthew Wood as General Grievous/Battle Droids/
Artoo Detoo as himself
Sam Witwer as Darth Maul (Episodes 1, 14-16)

Clancy Brown as Savage Opress (Episodes 1, 14-16)
Dave Filoni as Embo (Episode 17-18 and 20)
Dee Bradley Baker as the various Clone Troopers
Jon Favreau as Pre Vizsla (Episode 14-15)
Katee Sackhoff as Bo Katan (Episode 14-16)
Clancy Brown as Savage Opress (Episodes 1, 14-16)
Angelique Perrin as Adi Gallia (Episode 1)
Jim Cummins as Hondo (Episodes 1, 5, 7-9)
Meredith Salenger as Barriss Offee (episodes 18,19,20)
Jason Spisak as Lux Bonteri (Episodes 2- 5)
Anna Graves as Duchess Satine (Episodes 15 and 16)
Kevin Michael Richardson as Jabba the Hutt (Episode 14)
Brian George as Ki-Adi Mundi (Episode 16-18 and 20)
Stephen Stanton as Tarkin (Episodes 13, 17, 18 and 20)
Note: episode synopsis come from WOOKIEEPEDIA
EPISODE ONE: REVIVAL

Writer: Chris Collins
First US transmission date (CARTOON NETWORK): 29/9/2013

First UK transmission date (CARTOON NETWORK): 8/4/13
STORY: Darth Maul and Savage Opress steal a fortune of republic

credits, and bribe a squad of pirates to take down a pirate stronghold
run by Hondo. They attack Hondo's stronghold but Obi-Wan,
accompanied by Jedi Master Adi Gallia, intervene, and in the battle
that follows Savage kills Adi. Hondo ambushes the squad of pirates
and wins their loyalty back, while Obi-Wan fights Savage and Maul and
injures Savage. The brothers flee to their ship under fire from Hondo
and the pirates, but launch the escape pod mid flight as the ship is
damaged. Obi-Wan returns to Coruscant, where the Chancellor informs
him that the brothers are of no importance compared to the
Separatists, and no further action should be taken against them.
REVIEW: Brothers in blood, and brothers in spilling blood, Darth Maul

and Savage Opress first effort in forging a criminal army fails, but not
before bringing down Jedi Knight Adi Gallia (a short but sweet overall
series appearance), fighting alongside Obi-Wan Kenobi, when they’re
cornered on the almost desert world of Florrum. The presence of Maul
in the series is starting to become comfortable, but Revival, a
continuance from last season’s Brothers, is not one of the series
greatest season openers, though, in some respects, its an
improvement on Season Three’s quite sedate Arc Troopers.
As the Maul limelight brightens, poor Savage Opress, who had such a
magnificent debut two years back, unfortunately begins to pale,
coming across like Lennie Small from Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men - a
simpleton character alongside the more driven brother in Maul, though
Savage obviously retains his statuesque vindictive streak in killing
Jedi. Back to fight Obi-Wan, its ultimately his turn to face “The
Negotiator”s blade, losing the odd limb to the stunning swordplay of
the defiant and singular Obi-Wan- another sign that our Sith
wannabe’s time is almost up…
Amidst the Force clashing, the episode thankfully saw the return to the
series of fan favourite Hondo Ohnaka, who once more gets some great
one liners, being "semi speechless" at events playing out around him
with those Sith "tattooed crazies" as they wreak havoc on his junkyard
planet.
Originally planned as a mid-season episode (where it appears on the

Blu-ray set, and works better that way) but moved forward to kick-
start the season- a decision by Lucas clearly designed to get the series
off to a stronger start than the slow-building Onderon saga originally
planned, Revival’s action is solid if lacking overall chutzpah.
EPISODE TWO: A WAR ON TWO FRONTS

Made in Production Order: Season Four, Episode 15

STORY: On the Separatist world of Onderon, a group of rebels call for

the assistance of the Jedi. Ahsoka, Anakin and Obi-Wan go to train the
rebels to fight, and see that former Separatist / Death Watch terrorist
Bonteri is among them.
EPISODE THREE: FRONT RUNNERS

First US transmission date: 13/10/2012

First UK transmission date: 10/4/13
STORY: Ahsoka Tano, now leading the rebels on Onderon, but

forbidden to fight, puts their training to use by having them hi-jack an
AAT and blow up the main power supply of the Battle Droids.
EPISODE FOUR: THE SOFT WAR


STORY: The former King of Onderon is kidnapped from the Rebels and
is going to be excecuted by the Droid General and the current king of
Onderon. With no help from the Republic, Ahsoka, Steela, and Lux
Bonteri devise a plan to retrieve the King and Steela's brother from the
Palace. The rescue succeeds after Ahsoka's intervention. Now knowing
the Jedi's involvement, Dooku grows impatient with his underlings.
EPISODE FIVE: TIPPING POINTS

Director: Bosco Ng

STORY: The rebels on Onderon struggle to reclaim their home planet

because a new Separatist droid general sent by Dooku turns out to be
a better strategist than the current Onderonian King. After the
Republic and the Jedi High Council refuse to give Ahsoka Tano and the
rebels assistance Anakin Skywalker persuades Hondo Ohnaka, Crime
Boss of Florrum to supply illegal rocket launchers to the rebels to
combat the Separatist's new gunships. Meanwhile the King is killed by
the droid general by Dooku's orders. The rebels seem to succeed until
Steela; leader of the rebels, nearly falls off of a cliff, prompting Lux
Bonteri to try and aid her but just ends up falling himself. So Ahsoka
Tano has to rescue both, she rescues Bonteri and is about to rescue
Steela when a downed Separatist Gunship fires a missile at her
causing Ahsoka to drop Steela to her death. Even with Steela dead,
the rebels succeed in taking back Onderon.
REVIEW (OVERALL STORY): Here be dragons!
Serious themes underlie this interesting but overlong adventure. The

thin line between terrorism and rebellion is explored, with echoes of
2012’s problems involving America and Syria (and the debate as to
whether the super power should be aiding that country’s rebels), and
past mistakes linked to the Vietnam war, as the Jedi and Captain Rex
become observers to the small but so-effective Onderon Resistance,
Che Guevara-like soldiers living in the jungle, against the Separatists,
eventually going on to secretly aid them and supply weapons to their
cause against a corrupt planetary government that has sided with
Count Dooku.
Writer Chris Collins has fun turning STAR WARS history on its head
and giving us some notable role reversals- it’s interesting to see
Anakin as a rebel rouser before becoming the ultimate rebel hunter as
the demonic Darth Vader- a move that adds another layer to our
flawed but powerful character’s Jedi backstory.
Its also another slow knife in the back of the Jedi overall, as trust
issues concerning them from within the Republic come to the fore- a
plot strand gaining greater momentum by the end of the season and
series.
For the most part, this story is a showcase not only for the Expanded
Universe popular world of Onderon and the genesis of what will
ultimately be the first Rebel Alliance (with some clever design echoes
to Ralph McQuarrie’s design work from RETURN OF THE JEDI), but also
for Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano, mostly on her own for the later
episodes, though she has the presence of another rebel fighter, the on
the run Lux Bonteri (once more voiced by Jason Spisak), to help both
her and the people of the Separatist world in getting their house in
order.
Like Ahsoka, the Lux seen here is also maturing-no longer the weak
willed youngster and now a man with a mission, still determined to
avenge his mother’s death at the scheming hands of Dooku. His
romantic pull to the Jedi has now grown distant, as he finds his
admiration's swaying towards Steela, a nicely written part, well-voiced
by guest star Dawn-Lyen Gardner, makes an impression and proves to
be one of the few new standout characters of the adventure- another
welcome heroine for the saga’s animated universe.
Other pluses to the story include a new version of one of the series
Tactical Droids and some occasional nice touches in action sequences
linked to the hard to kill Droidekas. It’s also nice to see the return of
simulated cloth with our cloaked Jedi heroes when they arrive in the
jungles of Onderon. Expensive for the animation team, but worth it.
The final Charge of the Light Brigade-esque sequence showing horses

and epic dragons (likely inspired by GAME OF THRONES perhaps?!) in
battle against the Separatists (now using EPISODE III red-eyed Droid
Gunships) and the corrupt king are nicely handled, as is the next
cameo appearance of Hondo ("My, my, is that the time!”, he says
scurrying off the planet ASAP after delivering the Resistance’s much
needed heavy weaponry!).
Steela’s death ultimately proves a shock and is well handled, as is
Ahsoka’s almost fatal wounding from an enemy tank-for a moment,
just a moment, the audience is worried that she’ll bite the dust.
With a nicely directed first episode, the story ultimately feels too
luxurious and padded out- its not until the last episode that the
storyline has a genuine sense of threat and high-stakes drama-
overall, the Onderon saga, despite evolved animation, fails to match
anything like the epic quality of Season One’s Ryloth trilogy.
EPISODE SIX: THE GATHERING


STORY: Ahsoka and Yoda take a group of younglings to a cave on Ilum

to perform a Jedi rite of passage called "The Gathering", where they
will each have to face an internal fear or flaw in order to retrieve a
lightsaber crystal so they can begin building their own lightsabers.
EPISODE SEVEN: A TEST OF STRENGTH

Director: Bosco Ng

STORY: While returning to Coruscant with their lightsaber crystals, the
younglings are attacked by Hondo who wants to steal their crystals
and sell them. Ahsoka must defend the younglings no matter the cost.
EPISODE EIGHT: BOUND FOR RESCUE


STORY: With Ahsoka captured by Hondo, the younglings go to Florrum to

rescue her against the wishes of Obi-wan Kenobi. However before he can
help the younglings, he is attacked by General Grievous.
EPISODE NINE: A NECESSARY BOND


STORY: General Grievous attacks Hondo on Florrum, so Ahsoka and

Hondo must make amends in order to survive this encounter.
REVIEW (OVERALL STORY): Having caught the enthusiasm of

Expanded Universe fans with the Onderon adventures, the series
behind the scenes team lock their sights on restoring the series family
audience balance for four episodes concentrating on a group of Jedi
children, under the tutelage and guidance of Yoda and Ahsoka, and the
trials they undergo to construct their lightsaber and build themselves
into a cohesive team of friends.
Thankfully, the overall scripts from Christian Taylor don't play down to
the kids and are intelligent and speedy- when I first heard that this
was going to be a multi-part plot line linked to a group of young Jedi
(and a potential side door opening for a future spin-off), I was dubious
at best, but this tale actually turned out to be an enjoyable one,
though again not a classic- lighthearted but with lots of adventure,
before the darkness of the remaining Darth Maul and Mandalore arc.
Through two main arcs fused together, there are some clever
moments looking into the lives of the diverse group of Jedi Younglings,
alongside some lovely references to the original STAR WARS films-the
seeker ball of EPISODE IV being one! - and even giving us more of a
look at the important and secret Jedi world of Ilum and its immense
crystal berthing caves, as seen in the first Genndy Tartakovsky
animated series, though looking a little different visually and in
contradiction to the past, especially the way the Jedi find the crystals
for their lightsabers, to what was established in the previous animated
series before EPISODE III, though also presented in a clever way
where both versions can be integrated into the overall continuity.
Meanwhile, the diversity of the Jedi Padawans is interesting –

especially pleasing to see the Wookiee Jedi Gungi amongst them. Part
One’s finale, where her comrades finally discover their personal power
crystals and complete their sabers is effectively done. Sadly, Master
Yoda’s guiding role to them in the story is confined to the opener only,
though villainous Hondo and his gang of pirates fare better from the
second episode and prove a little more wickedly evil this time out.
Again, despite Ahsoka’s worthy presence, a part of me thought that

Anakin should have been involved in the story, too, somewhere along
the line. It would have given the Jedi Youngling massacre of EPISODE
III a dark circular consistency, but his Padawan is now the star of the
animated series and the most accessible to youngsters in launching
the then planned spin-off (We even get to see a quick flashback linked
to the heroine, seeing her as a baby with Plo Koon).
For part two, and the transfer of the story and action from Ilum to a
Jedi star cruiser, former DOCTOR WHO and geek icon David Tennant
effectively voices the faithful Jedi Droid servant, Professor Huyang, in
the best Anthony Daniels tradition and proves much better in his
casting the UK actor than they did with Simon Pegg as bounty hunter
Dengar in Season Four, and snagging an Emmy award in the process!
His character, one of the oldest droids serving the Jedi Order, is nicely
realised into visual life by the animation team, based once again on
some very early Ralph McQuarrie concept art for the protocol droid in
1975.
The stories third part becomes a padded out, but thankfully in a good
way with a space battle and Obi-Wan battling Grievous, leading to the
droid general’s eventual encounter with the younglings, but as this is
his final appearance in the series, it's an enjoyable enough example of
his continued antagonism and hatred for old enemy Kenobi and all
things Jedi.
Back to the kids plot, their travelling under cover within a travelling
carnival, in order to rescue Ahsoka from Hondo and his gang,
ultimately didn’t generate much enthusiasm from me and felt too
lightweight, but their soon rescue of her proves watchable enough.
Just when I was starting to think that the storyline was running out of
juice by it's fourth episode, a bright and breezy action finale ensues,
as Grievous and the Separatists invade Florrum, bringing it to all to an
enjoyable close, with Ahsoka getting the chance for a more agile and
powerful rematch against Grievous, though once again she only just
survives the encounter, with escape thanks to the iconic Slave One,
under Hondo’s command, returned to battle glory, fully repaired and
guns blazing!
So, for a four-episode duration, this was overall better than expected.
The right of passage idea was a good one for the series but again a
shaved off episode from the plot wouldn’t have hurt it too much. An
overall success with family audiences it may have been, but I don’t
personally think it would have been overall strong enough as a format
to have separate series legs. Nonetheless, an interesting oddity for
THE CLONE WARS series. Furthermore, some intriguing production
design across this adventure will certainly inspire further great action
figures and merchandise, like the wooden Wookiee lightsaber and the
new Jedi Republic cruiser.
EPISODE TEN: SECRET WEAPONS

STORY: R2-D2 is part of a team of Republic droids chosen for an

important mission led by the diminutive Colonel Meebur Gascon to
obtain an encryption module from a Separatist dreadnought. The
droids must overcome numerous challenging obstacles to succeed in
this crucial assignment.
EPISODE ELEVEN: A SUNNY DAY IN THE VOID

STORY: After their ship crashes on a desolate planet, D-Squad &

Colonel Gascon must find a way off to get back to Coruscant, or be
stranded forever.
EPISODE TWELVE: MISSING IN ACTION


STORY: Colonel Gascon and D-Squad discover that Abafar, the planet
they are trapped on, is Separatist-controlled, but they also discover a
Republic Clone Commando named Gregor, who has been stranded on
the planet as well. They must work together to get off the planet
safely.
EPISODE THIRTEEN: POINT OF NO RETURN

Director: Bosco Ng

STORY: After believing themselves safe, Colonel Gascon and D-Squad

discover that they are prisoners of the Separatist in a captured
Republic cruiser, finding themselves enmeshed in thwarting a plot to
destroy a Republic space station holding a strategic conference.
REVIEW (OVERALL STORY): Small size, big ambition!
Heroism comes in all shapes and sizes in the next four-parter, as

heroic STAR WARS favourite Artoo Detoo and a group of multi-
coloured Astro Droid, led by an ideas above his station general and an
over-eager droid, have to infiltrate enemy lines, steal a vital piece of
Separatist technology, then come back in one piece!
I acknowledge that the writers must have felt that a whole storyline
involving a group of bleeping/blooping Artoo’s on their own, with no
real speech patterns, might be less dramatic than normal- hence the
additional need for two quirky love ‘em or hate ’em new characters to
exchange humorous dialogue around them, but I disagreed with their
actions- Artoo and chums had enough character appeal to win over
audiences and prove perfect for an overall visualist series, whilst
pursuant baddies and other supporting characters around them could
easily have shored up the narrative in other ways. Obi-Wan and
Anakin may have been worthy of use in the adventure somewhere
before their ultimate final episode appearance, to help the droids on
and off, speeding the plot further along.
That said, the actual first episode, Secret Weapons, has a good plot
from Brent Friedman and proves quite snappily paced, as our heroes
infiltrate a Sep cruiser and steal a viral data chip, but the inclusion of
the aforementioned new characters, the dedicated pit droid pilot WAC-
47 and the even smaller, miniature alien Colonel Meebur (as in
amoeba) Gascon often irritate, coming across as unwanted rejects
from the STAR TOURS ride- another example of THE CLONE WARS
family friendly factor. I have no problem with that for the most part,
but the creation of this duo was perhaps a bit too far and too zany for
my tastes, of which I felt that the series was starting to lose its
sophistication a little bit.
Artoo, with his heroic reliability and talents in holding onto secret
knowledge, does get some crowd-pleasing action, though- in another
one to one battle against a member of his own kind: a lethal Tactical
Droid, in another exciting sequence- taking it out with flying
pyrotechnical skills.
Part Two unfortunately sees things take a nose-dive in story quality,

as the droids crash their shuttle after a run-in with a comet storm
(again very STAR TOURS!), finding themselves on a desert planet and
lost in a wilderness, amidst lots of story padding. Some of the building
mild comedy moments equally fell flat on their face in one of the most
disappointing episodes yet in this normally high quality series. I
thought that the previously considered fan dispiriting episodes
of Threepio and Artoo last season were far better than this one.
Thankfully, the situation picks up with part three, Missing in Action,

and the discovery of amnesiac Clone Commando Gregor, missing
believed dead, who, thanks to the gang, regains his memory and helps
them escape on an orbit parked Republic cruiser.
The idea of this lone clone commando brings weight to a story that
really needed it, though his supposed “death” in the firefight against
overwhelming Battle Droids and Super Battle Droids is a waste.
Additionally, part three’s inclusion of a few nice Classic Trilogy aliens is
a welcome bonus, including a memorable appearance from a Sullustian
cook who uses Gregor as a kitchen slave.
The final part of this all too long adventure, Point of No Return, ends
the story with a great big bang, literally- nicely directed by Steward
Lee and starting with a brief hint of mystery as the droids arrive to find
the Republic vessel empty, and on automatic control, leading to Artoo
once more in action, against the first appearance of small but lethal
Buzz Droids in an excellently realized sequence, the enemy literally in
their thousands, causing havoc as our heroes have to prevent the
loaded with explosives ship from destroying a top secret meeting of
Jedi and Republic forces, with Anakin, Obi-Wan and Tarkin amongst its
populace (the latter in a nice little role, with greater prominence to
come the season), resulting in one of the most spectacular explosions
ever witnessed in an animated or live action series.
EPISODE FOURTEEN: EMINENCE


STORY: Darth Maul and Savage Opress form an alliance with the
Mandalorian terrorist group Death Watch and several crime syndicates,
including Black Sun, the Pyke Syndicate, and the Hutt Cartel, in order
to destroy all of their common enemies.
EPISODE FIFTEEN: SHADES OF REASON

Director: Bosco Ng

STORY: Maul's alliance helps the Death Watch and their leader, Pre
Vizsla, conquer Mandalore and imprison Duchess Satine, but, when
Vizsla's ambitions surface, how long will the alliance last?
EPISODE SIXTEEN: THE LAWLESS


STORY Having assumed control over a majority of the Death Watch

after killing Vizsla in a duel, Maul proceeds to lure Obi-Wan Kenobi to
Mandalore with news of Satine's capture. However, the hostile
takeover captures the attention of Darth Sidious, Maul's former
master, who travels to Mandalore to take care of the rogue Sith
brothers. Sidious kills Savage and takes Maul prisoner, hinting that he
has a sinister plan in mind.
REVIEW (OVERALL STORY): The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Villains of the universe unite, whether they want it or not, as the

resurrected Maul and Savage Opress awake from space deep freeze by
bloodthirsty mercenaries Death Watch, where, together, they hatch a
grand scheme to incite terror on the Republic via the conquest of
Mandalore and the thousands of systems within its neutral empire.
Death Watch think they have the advantage, but Savage and Maul,
enjoying this new fertile ground in which to thrive, are dangerous
beyond belief.
Now, finally, the show is getting back on top form with Eminence, and
what form this episode is-easily one of the series greatest, featuring
some fascinating input from Lucas, who ultimately came up with the
idea of the Maul alliances. The story has the kind of epic scope and
character battles that STAR WARS fans imaginations could only enjoy
in playing action figures, video games or Top Trumps cards. Cleverly
not having a Jedi hero in sight within its 22 minute duration, the series
diverse range of villains get the spotlight: Bounty Hunters, Sith, Death
Watch, the Hutts and the first appearance of the popular Black Sun
criminal empire- quite a considerable challenge to bring together,
pulled off with aplomb by writer Chris Collins. Skillfully directed by
Kyle Dunlevy, it was one of the fastest episodes of the series, of which
so much was happening.
Zipping through the universe in the best tradition of the STAR WARS
movies, it was great to see the volcanic planet return of Mustafar once
more (a true hotbed of evil prior to EPISODE III, for a quick takeover
of the Black Sun organisation and a quick series of beheadings), action
on Nal Hutta, as Savage kills a Hutt, then onto Tatooine and making
Jabba’s Palace a battle damaged wreck. Plus new alliances with the
ambitious alien smugglers, the Pikes.
Caught in the battle to protect the Hutts, popular bounty hunters

Dengar (thankfully silent, and without Simon Pegg!), Suki, Embo, and
all have a great piece of the action pie, as do the Mandalorian pilots,
Katee Sackhoff’s sexy Bo Katan and her flying warrior women, letting
the explosive fireworks fly.
A terrific visual palette makes fine use of the established environs and
characters of the last five years whilst Kevin Kilner provides suitably
menacing music moments, like the variation on the EPISODE I
Sanskrit choir theme for Duel of the Fates, for Maul and Opress on Nal
Hutta.
Eminence was a very satisfying episode and a major highlight.
Revenge and destruction the renegade Sith way continues apace with
Shades of Reason, as the Death Watch take control of Mandalore
through a clever ruse but under-anticipate the power and pure evil of
Darth Maul, as a new colour co-ordinated civil war breaks out between
the mercenaries.
A bone crunching, teeth smashing lightsaber duel between the soon

late Pre Vizsla (Jon Favreau) and a back to form Maul proves to be
another one of the series finest action sequences. But there’s even
better to come…
Continuing the fine work of Eminence, the aforementioned clever

takeover of Mandalore is well handed but it feels too rushed in places-
Chris Collins scripting here doesn't quite feel as sophisticated as his
first episode’s evil empire battles.
Continuity-wise, its good to see government baddie Almarec back,

once again voiced by Julian Holloway, plus some further nice moments
of action savagery for Savage Opress to swing his lightsaber blades
during his penultimate appearance. And goodbye Pre-Vizsla, it's been
nice knowing you. But that's what happens when you underestimate
the Sith.
Finally, the kind of epic Mandalore adventure we've been waiting for
and deserve- the sins of the earlier, weak Season Three adventures on
their planet almost forgiven (with The Academy’s young students
getting a respectable finale appearance with the following episode),
things in their domed universe will never be the same again...
And so the chessboard pieces are assembled and the game begins.
The prior season trailers skillfully whetting our appetites for the end
move: The Lawless, presenting the incredible duel between Darth
Sidious and Sith Throne pretenders Maul and Opress. There can be
only be two Sith at any one time, and Sidious makes that fact all the
more clear to them, delivering one hell of a staggering backwards
lightsaber whammy that slays Savage Oppress and leaves Maul a
quivering, electrified wreck begging for mercy by episodes end. The
choreography and animation moves of their three-way duel, a reverse
of the heroic drama of Jedi versus Sith in EPISODE I, are stunning.
There's no Help the Aged sticker needed for old guy Sidious, as he
completely annihilates his prey in the finest Dark Side moment of the
Prequel Saga in animation form. It’s finally great to see the character
in the flesh after years as a hologram, whilst Ian Abercrombie’s final
episode for the series shows the actors excellence in capturing the
pure evil and menace of the character, alongside a cruelly playful
streak which we’ve come to expect over the years.
Despite my unhappiness with Maul’s overall return last season, he’s

once again well placed in Season Five events and Chris Collin’s
supercharged final episode- his slaying of Duchess Satine securing his
animated wickedness- so its another great shame that his final fate as
the planned tool of Sidious' will is now likely never to be revealed.
Things are just as bad for our venerable Obi-Wan Kenobi, unable to
get the Jedi or Republic’s help, his unlucky streak linked to Mandalore
continues, going off on a failed solo mission to rescue the captured,
soon dead in front of his eyes, Duchess Satine. Likewise, Anakin’s once
trusty, now seriously run down and literally falling apart vessel, the
Twilight, comes a cropper- soon disintegrating in the flames of battle
against a fraction of Death Watch controlled by Maul, with their nifty
red-coated insignia.
The ultimate love of Obi-Wan’s life she may have been, but I wasn’t
the greatest fan of the Satine character in the series, though the
aftermath of her shocking death is sensitively handled, and it's a
genuinely sad moment when Obi cradles her as she tells him that she’s
always loved him. Aw, bless…
Epic ground and air battles within the city blaze on, intensified with
Satine’s passing, and prove an equal animation triumph opposite the
Sith duel. With the end of the series approaching, we’re also now
denied the final fate of Mandalore. We assume the Republic forces did
indeed go on and take the world as Bo Katan, now revealed as the late
Satine’s sister, predicts to a departing Kenobi-let’s hope a comic series
or novel wraps this all up. But, with all the unresolved plotlines
brewing, is it still wise to consider the series as fully cannon to the live
action movies?
EPISODE SEVENTEEN: SABOTAGE

Writer: Charles Murray

STORY: After Ahsoka manages to rescue Anakin from certain peril on

Cato Neimoidia, the two are called back to Coruscant from the front
lines to investigate a terrorist bombing at the Jedi Temple.
EPISODE EIGHTEEN: THE JEDI WHO KNEW TOO

MUCH

STORY: After Ahsoka manages to rescue Anakin from certain peril on

Cato Neimoidia, the two are called back to Coruscant from the front
lines to investigate a terrorist bombing at the Jedi Temple.
EPISODE NINETEEN: TO CATCH A JEDI


STORY: While on the run in the underworld of Coruscant, pursued by

Republic authorities, Ahsoka makes a deal with Asajj Ventress to find
out who the actual murderer of Letta Turmond really is, leading the
two to come to terms with each other in spite of their antagonistic
pasts. However, will the real perpetrator's machinations cast such an
alliance into doubt?
EPISODE TWENTY: THE WRONG JEDI

STORY: Prosecution begins for Ahsoka in the High Courts after the Jedi
Council expels her from the Jedi Order. As Padmé fights to prove
Ahsoka's innocence, Anakin searches for information hoping to relieve
Ahsoka of her charges and find the truth behind the crimes against the
Jedi Order and the Republic.
REVIEW (OVERALL): Finally, Anakin Skywalker is back in the series,

and once more in partnership with Ahsoka, for the beginning of the
series final tale: a tense and vital sky-battle conflict of which our
Padawan shows how much she has grown in her abilities and attitudes
as a Jedi, saving his life in an exciting opening sequence.
Kevin Kilner’s music for the series and his themes, especially for
Ahsoka, re-emerge here and for the rest of the four-parter, alongside
some of John Williams iconic work, too. The scores sound bigger and
grander, too, in a reunion with the City of Prague Philharmonic
Orchestra (something that Kilner himself mostly paid for out of his own
pocket!). The nods to the visual universe of the live-action films also
continue, as the series animation seeing gets ever nearer to EPISODE
III- notice the first appearance of the new Jedi Star fighters, the return
of the Buzz Droids and the environments of the Cato Neimoidia bridge
planet.
After vitally re-establishing our main duo’s relationship, we then make

a welcome return to the galaxies main seat of power-Coruscant-
though we've now reached a point where its becoming a police state,
with rebellion by the people against the never ending civil war now
reaching critical mass- the Jedi bearing the main brunt of hostile public
opinion and rising unrest, leading to the Jedi Temple’s sudden bombing
and a CSI-like forensics investigation (right down to a droid version of
David Caruso’s iconic Horatio Caine) swiftly underway (I liked the
severed hand of the suicide bomber-another entry to the long list of
lost STAR WARS character body parts!), though it isn’t long before the
possibility of it being the handiwork of a rogue Jedi, at first ruled out,
soon starts to see the cold light of reality…
Charles Murray script shows maturity and builds on the kind of

storyline last seen with Season Two’s Coruscant intrigue drama (where
the lights went out), and building on the planets almost police state
atmosphere-a plot element to EPISODE III that didn’t quite make it to
the screen. Its always nice to see a bit more of the Jedi Temple, too,
despite the doom and gloom of the intriguing funeral service they give
to their fallen comrades, and a nice cameo appearance from Jedi
Master Cin Drallig-voiced by Robin Atkin Downes: a deserved tribute to
the Prequel series excellent Stunt Coordinator, Nick Gillard.
Anakin’s friend, his pupil, now under suspicion- her duties and honour
to the Jedi and the Republic incredulously in doubt, Part Two ramps up
the tension and suspicions gathering around poor Ahsoka with the
arrival of the snidey Tarkin and her being framed for the murder of the
bombing suspect in prison via a powerful Force choke worthy of Darth
Vader. With Anakin powerless to help her (as well as Obi-Wan also
pretty much excluded from the plot), Ahsoka soon has no choice but to
prove her innocence on her own, making a desperate escape amongst
atmospheric dark clouds and rainfall from the Clone prison facility in
another one of the seasons best action sequences, dodging pursuant
Clone forces (including EPISODE III’s Oddball!), outrunning mastiffs
and avoiding stun blasts the way Princess Leia couldn’t, culminating in
a cornered, and heated, exchange of words between her and her
master (showing shades of the Darth Vader theme about him as the
resentment of his Padawan’s situation grows) as she makes a jump, in
the best Harrison Ford/THE FUGITIVE tradition, into the labyrinth of
crime that is Coruscant’s immense level 13:13 underworld.
The concept of trust and Anakin not wanting to lose a loved one are
obviously vital elements of his psyche by EPISODE III and this all acts
as a nice prelude to that. His search for his on the run Ahsoka in Part
Three becoming another intriguing role reversal of his later hunt for
the remaining Jedi in the form of Darth Vader. Getting deeper into the
mire, with an enemy that seems to know her every move, her brief
team-up with the liberated Asajj Ventress adds to the intrigue within
1313.
By Part Four, the evidence against Ahsoka gets worse and worse,
framed still further, and overwhelmingly prescient enough to see her
severely punished. The return of her friend and war comrade, popular
Jedi healer Barriss Offee, seemed a given after their successful pairing
in Season Two’s Geonosis arc. So, by making her a baddie, proved a
surprising yet sensible idea by Murray and the writing team, though
the clues of what was to come with her had been subtly signposted
during the early stages of Part Two.
Captured, the show trial of a Jedi, one so loyal as Ahsoka, shows us

that the series has now gotten back its sophistication, and its nice to
see Padme return to the series after such a long absence (a shame she
couldn’t have been slotted into the story a little earlier), this time
squaring up to Tarkin and defending the Jedi within a John Barry/
Ralph McQuarrie court-room area production design tribute set that
goes all-out to be immense and impressive.
Portraying justice’s seemingly incorruptible guardian, it must have

been a difficult job taking over from Ian Abercrombie’s excellent vocal
performance as Sidious/Palpatine, but Tim Curry handles the reins
well, and I think he would have made a bigger and more pleasing
impression with fans if the planned and voice recorded Season Six had
been animated in its entirety…
As one fight for justice begins, another goes on in and outside of the
Jedi temple, with the thrilling lightsaber duel between Anakin (two
sabered once more, whilst getting some pre-Vader aggression off his
chest!) and the revealed Barriss outside the confines of the Temple-
intriguing to see the temple guards with their white double lightsabers
getting caught in the drama.
As a healer, Offee’s actions, once revealed, seem out of character at
first but are ultimately understandable in the long-term and with the
backdrop of EPISODE III looming- her end statement of the Jedi
having been used by the dark side, and as living weapons, proving
painfully accurate.
And so we come to Ahsoka’s final scenes. Poorly treated and

abandoned by the Jedi Order, her distinctive braid removed from her
with her arrest for sedition, Ahsoka’s higher-powered superiors (even
friend and mentor Plo Koon) are arrogant enough to assume that she’ll
return to them after her ordeal. Or her “trial” as they now like to call
it. Think again- anybody who's suffered that kind of abuse and
emotional torment, even a young Jedi, is going to say stick it, and if it
was Anakin in his Vader persona he'd have probably killed ‘em all for
it!
Bringing this important character arc to a so far on-screen end, it was

only right that one of her creators-Dave Filoni- would handle her all-
important finale, in a script of emotion and subtle pain-the fade to
black sign-off and the use of her distinctive theme being a striking end
note to all that had gone before: her fate now up in the air and
undecided- a hoped for brave demise during ORDER 66, or at the
hands of Darth Vader a scenario so wanted by many adult fans- now
unlikely to happen. Think of her rather than being permanently taken
off the chessboard, as simply being put to one side for a future key
strategy. Such is the inevitability that she’ll return somewhere in the
STAR WARS universe, most likely in novel and video game form, and
with renewed vigour, or with the possibility to make a key appearance
in STAR WARS: REBELS...
With the DISNEY takeover deal being made as the season was coming
to its behind the scenes completion, the overall destiny of the series
was tragically stopped shy of going into the opening events of Revenge
of the Sith, with no renewal planned beyond Year Five. The long-term
goals for our characters are for the most part scuttled. It’s
disappointing that, when Lucas quit, he didn’t secure the series future
with Disney for at least one more full season wrap-up.
Still, this climactic Jedi tale, alongside other elements of the previous
four seasons, proved a major step towards the dark intensity of the
final Prequel chapter and overall proved a very satisfying end to a
mixed bag season.
A FINAL WORD ON THE FINAL SEASON
Starting off with a relatively weak batch of opening adventures

compared to previous seasons, this unexpectedly final run of
THE CLONE WARS redeems itself by year’s end with eight
superb episodes, showing DISNEY what a big mistake it made
in not continuing the series towards its planned seven season
run. The landmark, innovative series with its ground-breaking
animation and bold storytelling may have departed the
airwaves, but its quality legacy within the STAR WARS universe
will certainly not be forgotten by its millions of dedicated fans
worldwide…
The upcoming 2014 STAR WARS: REBELS series now has a

helluva lot to live up to!
AFICIONADO OVERALL SEASON RATING: 3 out of 5

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“STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS”

TV SERIES EPISODE GUIDE (2008 –

MAIN PRODUCTION CREDITS

Produced by Cary Silver (Season One- Episode 12 onwards/ Season

Supervising Director: Dave Filoni

Story Editor/ Series Writer: Henry Gilroy

Staff Writers (Season Two): Katie Lucas, Brian Larsen

Created by and Executive Producer: George Lucas

STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS made by LUCASFILM ANIMATION.

Distributed worldwide by WARNER BROTHERS.

BJ Hughes as Jar Jar Binks (Series One- 3 episodes-THE

Ron Perlman as Gha Nachkt (Series One-2 episodes-DOWNFALL OF A

George Takei as Lok Durd (Series One-1 episode-DEFENDERS OF

Michael York as Doctor Nuvo Vidni (Season One-2 episodes-BLUE

UNAIRED EPISODE ONE (Production Order-

Written by Henry Gilroy

Directed by Dave Filoni

UNAIRED EPISODE TWO (Production Order –

Written by Steven Melching

Director: George Roman Samilski

UNAIRED EPISODE THREE (Production Order-

Written by Henry Gilroy

Directed by Dave Filoni

STORY: Anakin and Ahsoka crash-land on Tatooine, while Padme

UNAIRED EPISODE FOUR (Production Order-

Writer: Scott Murphy

(NOTE: THESE FOUR EPISODES WERE NEVER

EPISODE ONE: AMBUSH

Directed by Dave Bullock

UK TRANSMISSION DATE: OCTOBER 25TH 2008 (SKY MOVIES

US TRANSMISSION DATE: OCTOBER 3RD 2008 (CARTOON NETWORK)

MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: 8

STORY: Jedi Master Yoda is on a secret mission to forge a treaty with

AFICIONADO REVIEW: A terrific first episode start to the series-you

AFICIONADO RATING: 5 out of 5

EPISODE TWO: RISING MALEVOLENCE

Director: Dave Filoni.

UK TRANSMISSION DATE: OCTOBER 25TH 2008 (SKY MOVIES

US TRANSMISSION DATE: OCTOBER 3RD 2008 (CARTOON NETWORK)

MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: 7

STORY: Creating panic throughout the galaxy, a devastating Separatist

AFICIONADO REVIEW: Another superlative episode-darker in nature

A thrilling episode… and it’s only the first part!!

AFICIONADO RATING: 5 out of 5

EPISODE THREE: SHADOW OF MALEVOLENCE

Writer: Steve Melching

Director: Brian Kalin O’Connell

UK TRANSMISSION DATE: 1ST NOVEMBER 2008 (SKY PREMIERE)

US TRANSMISSION DATE: 10TH OCTOBER 2008 (CARTOON NETWORK)

MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: 9

NOTES: In the UK, SKY TELEVISION was supposed to have showed a

AFICIONADO REVIEW: The amazing quality of this series continues,

It all just keeps getting better.

AFICIONADO RATING: 5 out of 5

EPISODE FOUR: DESTROY MALEVOLENCE

Directed by Brian Kalin O’Connell

MADE IN PRODUCTION ORDER: 11

UK ORIGINAL TRANSMISSION: 8TH NOVEMBER 2008 (SKY MOVIES